Summary of rheumatoid arthritis treatment guidelines

  The draft guidelines for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis include 3 overarching principles and 14 recommendations, the main elements of which are as follows: 1. Treatment with DMARDs should be initiated as early as possible after the diagnosis of RA.  2. The goal of treatment is to alleviate the disease or reduce disease activity.  Frequent monitoring should be performed, and if remission is not achieved after up to 3 months of treatment, or if the treatment goal is not achieved after up to 6 months of treatment, the treatment plan should be adjusted.  4. The first-line treatment strategy should include methotrexate.  5. When methotrexate is contraindicated or not tolerated, consider including salbutamol or leflunomide in the treatment regimen.  6.Early combination therapy with traditional DMARDs is a reasonable alternative to initial methotrexate monotherapy.  7. Consider adding a low-dose glucocorticoid as part of the initial treatment for up to 6 months; the dose should be reduced as quickly as clinically feasible.  If treatment goals are not met, consider switching to another synthetic DMARD regimen; if the patient has poor prognostic features, consider adding a biologic DMARD. If the patient does not respond adequately to conventional DMARDs (with or without concurrent glucocorticoid therapy), add a biologic DMARD to methotrexate therapy, which may be TNF inhibitor, abciximab or tolimumab.  Patients with an inadequate response to a biologic DMARD should be switched to another biologic DMARD. patients who fail treatment with the first TNF inhibitor may be switched to another TNF inhibitor.  11, For patients who have failed biologic DMARD therapy, Tofacitinib treatment may be considered.  12. For patients in sustained remission, the dosage of corticosteroids should be reduced first. If remission is maintained, curtailment of biologic DMARD therapy may be considered, especially if the patient is also on at least one synthetic DMARD.  For patients in durable, long-term remission, a reduction in the dose of traditional synthetic DMARD may be discussed with the physician.  14. Structural damage progression, comorbidities, safety, and disease activity should be taken into account when adjusting therapy.