Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

Pain

Pain therapy for 'hot' joints: what works?

A new multinational guideline for treating pain in the setting of inflammatory arthritis highlights the absence of well-designed studies to answer the myriad questions faced by clinicians. To use the recommendations as a starting point for alleviating this common condition, clinicians will need to read between the lines.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

USD 39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. Whittle, S. L. et al. Multinational evidence-based recommendations for pain management by pharmacotherapy in inflammatory arthritis: integrating systematic literature research and expert opinion of a broad panel of rheumatologists in the 3e Initiative. Rheumatology http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/rheumatology/kes032.

  2. Heiberg, T. & Kvein, T. K. Preferences for improved health in 1,024 patients with rheumatoid arthritis: pain has highest priority. Arthritis Rheum. 47, 391–397 (2002).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. American College of Rheumatology Pain Management Task Force. Report of the American College of Rheumatology Pain Management Task Force. Arthritis Care Res. 62, 590–599 (2010).

  4. Hazelwood, G., van der Heijde, D. & Bombardier, C. Paracetamol for the management of pain in inflammatory arthritis: a systematic review. J. Rheumatol. (in press).

  5. Tarner, I. H., Englbrecht, M., Schneifer, M., van der Heijde, D. & Muller-Ladner, U. The role of corticosteroids for pain relief in psersistent pain in inflammatory arthritis: a systematic literature review J. Rheumatol. (in press).

  6. Sawynok, J., Esser, M. J. & Reid, A. R. Antidepressants as analgesics; an overview of central and peripheral mechanisms of action. J. Psych. Neurosci. 26, 21–29 (2001).

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Richards, B. L., Whittle, S. L. & Buchbinder, R. Antidepressants for pain management in rheumatoid arthritis. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Issue 11. Art. No.: CD008920. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD008920.pub2.

  8. Borenstein, D. Opioids: To use or not to use? That is the question. Arthritis Rheum. 52, 6–10 (2005).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Strand, V. et al. Treatment of osteoarthritis with continuous versus intermittent celecoxib. J. Rheumatol. 38, 2625–2634 (2011).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Wanders, A. et al. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs reduce radiographic progression in patients with ankylosing spondylitis: a randomized clinical trial. Arthritis Rheum. 52, 1756–1765 (2005).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The author declares no competing financial interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Borenstein, D. Pain therapy for 'hot' joints: what works?. Nat Rev Rheumatol 8, 376–377 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrrheum.2012.91

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrrheum.2012.91

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing