Treatment options for ankylosing spondylitis

  Ankylosing spondylitis is a common disease that mainly affects young men and is of great concern because it is not easily controlled and has a high disability rate.  The treatment of ankylosing spondylitis must follow the principle of “early and long-term”, that is, early treatment and long-term persistence.  Early and stable phase (1) Functional exercise and good posture are especially important. Reduce or avoid physical activities that cause persistent pain, and advise patients to perform physical exercises carefully and without interruption to obtain and maintain the best position of the joint. When standing, try to maintain a posture with the chest up, abdomen tucked in and eyes level in front of you. The sitting position should also keep the chest upright. One should sleep on a hard bed and take more supine positions to avoid positions that promote flexion deformity. Pillows should be short and should be discontinued once upper thoracic or cervical spine involvement occurs. (2) Relief of symptoms: I. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. For example: indomethacin 25mg 3 times daily and nabumetone 1000mg once a night. Anti-inflammatory drugs usually need to be used for about 2 months, to reduce the dose after the symptoms are completely controlled, to consolidate the minimum effective amount for a period of time, and then consider stopping the drug, too soon to stop the drug is likely to cause recurrence of symptoms. Note that NSAIDs should not be applied at the same time, if one drug is not effective for 2-4 weeks, then switch to other anti-inflammatory drugs of different categories. In the process of medication should always pay attention to monitor the adverse drug reactions and timely adjustment. ii. analgesics. For patients with significant pain or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are ineffective. For example, tramadol hydrochloride extended-release tablets 50-100 mg once every 12 hours. iii. muscle relaxants. For patients with significant spinal stiffness symptoms. Such as Eperisone 50mg twice daily.   Progressive phase (1) NSAIDs and analgesics. Same as the mainly involved spine type. (2) Salazosulfapyridine: the usual recommended dosage is 2.0g per day, divided into 2-3 oral doses. In order to compensate for the slow onset of action of salazosulfapyridine and the shortcomings of the anti-inflammatory effect, a fast-acting anti-inflammatory drug is usually used in combination with it. (3) Methotrexate: Methotrexate can be used in the active stage, usually 7.5mg~15mg of methotrexate, orally or by injection once a week for 6 months~3 years in severe cases. It is mainly used for cases in which lorazepam and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are ineffective. (4) Thalidomide (Thalidomide, reaction stop). The initial dose is 100mg/d and is maintained in increments of 100mg every 10 days up to 300mg/d. It is mainly used for refractory patients who have already given birth. (5) Radix Polygonatum or Kunming Shanghang may also be used. (6) For sacroiliitis or hip osteoarthritis with severe pain, local injection of anti-inflammatory and analgesic drugs can be considered to relieve symptoms and control the development of inflammation Complications and deformity treatment (1) Treatment of iridoid juxtafibrosis: aggressive ophthalmic management, local hormone injection, and intravenous MTX. (2) Joint space narrowing, ankylosis and deformity caused by hip joint involvement are the main causes of disability in this disease. Artificial total hip arthroplasty can be considered in the late stage.