RESEARCH ARTICLE


The Future of Rheumatoid Arthritis and Hand Surgery - Combining Evolutionary Pharmacology and Surgical Technique



Malahias M1, Gardner H1, Hindocha S*, 1, 2, Juma A1, W Khan3
1 Department of Plastic Surgery, Countess of Chester Hospital, Liverpool Road, Chester. CH21UL, UK
2 Department of Plastic Surgery, Whiston Hospital, Warrington Road, L355DR, UK
3 University College London Institute of Orthopaedics and Musculoskeletal Sciences, Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital, Stanmore, Middlesex, HA7 4LP, UK


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Creative Commons License
© Malahias et al.; Licensee Bentham Open.

open-access license: This is an open access article licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted, non-commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the work is properly cited.

* Address correspondence to this author at the Department of Plastic Surgery, Whiston Hospital, Warrington Road, L35 5DR, UK; Tel: 01244366265; Fax: 01244366265; E-mail: hindocha2001@yahoo.com


Abstract

Rheumatoid arthritis is a systemic autoimmune disease of uncertain aetiology, which is characterized primarily by synovial inflammation with secondary skeletal destructions.

Rheumatoid Arthritis is diagnosed by the presence of four of the seven diagnostic criteria, defined by The American College of Rheumatology.

Approximately half a million adults in the United Kingdom suffer from rheumatoid arthritis with an age prevalence between the second and fourth decades of life; annually approximately 20,000 new cases are diagnosed.

The management of Rheumatoid Arthritis is complex; in the initial phase of the disease it primarily depends on pharmacological management. With disease progression, surgical input to correct deformity comes to play an increasingly important role. The treatment of this condition is also intimately coupled with input from both the occupational therapists and physiotherapy.

Keywords: Rheumatoid arthritis, hand, arthropathy, sinovitis, inflammation.