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Ankylosing Spondylitis, Sports Medicine

Scott Chandler, DO and Kevin deWeber, MD, FAAFP, FACSM, RMSK Reviewed 04/2019
 


BASICS

DESCRIPTION

  • Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is a chronic inflammatory, autoimmune arthritis characterized by inflammatory back pain (IBP).

  • It is the most common and potentially severe subtype of spon...

DIAGNOSIS

  • Diagnosis is primarily based on history of IBP (see “History”) and exam findings with imaging used to confirm diagnosis.

  • The modified New York criteria have historically been used for researc...

TREATMENT

GENERAL MEASURES

  • A multidisciplinary approach of drug therapy along with exercises/physiotherapy helps decrease disease activity and progression while improving function.

  • Treatment is generall...

ONGOING CARE

FOLLOW-UP RECOMMENDATIONS

Patient Monitoring

  • Can continue to monitor response to treatment using validated AS disease activity measures (Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index [...

REFERENCES

1
Wang R, Ward M. Epidemiology of axial spondyloarthritis: an update. Curr Opin Rheumatol.  2018;30(2):137–143.
2
De Winter JJ, van Mens LJ, van der Heijde D, et al. Prevalence of periphe...

ADDITIONAL READING

  • Braun J, Sieper J. Ankylosing spondylitis. Lancet.  2007;369(9570):1379–1390.

  • Sieper J, Rudwaleit M, Khan MA, et al. Concepts and epidemiology of spondyloarthritis. Best Pract R...

CLINICAL PEARLS

  • Diagnosing AS can be difficult because there is no clear diagnostic criteria, yet a delay in diagnosis can lead to unnecessary disease progression and irreversible changes.

  • Identifying ...

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