Abstract
Many people with inflammatory arthritis continue
to experience high levels of pain even when receiving effective
treatments. Chronic pain is a complex biological process that cannot be
easily remedied with a single pill. A multimodal approach is required.
Article Extract
Inflammatory arthritis (IA) affects up to 3% of the
population and is characterised by pain, stiffness, loss of function and
impaired quality of life. It comprises diseases such as rheumatoid
arthritis (Figure 1), psoriatic arthritis, reactive arthritis and
spondyloarthropathies, and when treatment is successful IA is a
satisfying condition to treat. There are many examples of the
debilitated patient with polyarthritis who is revived with a pulse of
steroid. Instant trust and often a smile can follow. Unfortunately, this
is not always the case and for doctors and patients it can be
frustrating when treatment fails to live up to the high expectations.
