Rheumatoid arthritis
Rheumatoid arthritis: the management of rheumatoid arthritis in adults
Summary
Rheumatoid arthritis is a long-term disease in which joints in the body become inflamed, causing pain, swelling and stiffness. It is known as an 'autoimmune disease' because it is caused when the body's immune system, which normally fights infection, starts to attack healthy joints. At times, rh ...
This guidance updates and replaces the following technology appraisals:
- TA27 Osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis - cox II inhibitors (partially updated by CG59)
- TA72 Rheumatoid arthritis - anakinra
Responsibility for undertaking a review of this guidance at the designated review date has passed to the National Clinical Guidelines Centre for Acute and Chronic Conditions (NCGC-ACC) The National Collaborating Centre for Chronic Conditions is no longer active
A correction has been made to the guideline. Recommendation 1.4.4.3 has been amended to remove text that stated an incorrect dose of etoricoxib for rheumatoid arthritis patients. The recommendation now reads: When offering treatment with an oral NSAID/COX-2 inhibitor, the first choice should be either a standard NSAID or a COX-2 inhibitor. In either case, these should be co‑prescribed with a proton pump inhibitor (PPI), choosing the one with the lowest acquisition cost.
Note that recommendations 1.4.4.2 – 1.4.4.5 are adapted from ‘Osteoarthritis: the care and management of osteoarthritis in adults’ (NICE clinical guideline 59). These recommendations form part of the Rheumatoid Arthritis clinical guideline update of the rheumatoid arthritis aspects of ‘Guidance on the use of cyclo-oxygenase (Cox) II selective inhibitors, celecoxib, rofecoxib, meloxicam and etodolac for osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis’ (NICE technology appraisal guidance 27).
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Expected review date: February 2012
About this guidance
Clinical guidelines CG79
Issued: February 2009
How this guidance was produced