{"title":"Decoding pain in axial spondyloarthritis: Mechanisms, management, and future directions.","authors":"Mohamad Bittar, Yvonne C Lee, Atul Deodhar","doi":"10.1016/j.berh.2026.102150","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) is an immune-mediated inflammatory condition that is associated with significant disease burden. While the use of biologic and targeted synthetic disease modifying antirheumatic drugs have led to significant improvements in disease outcomes, a substantial proportion of patients continue to face challenges with pain despite effective control of their inflammatory state. Chronic pain is one of the leading causes of disability and remains an unmet research and clinical need in axSpA. Phenotyping pain is essential to understand the etiology of symptoms and to aid in selecting the appropriate management plan in axSpA. In this review, we aim to highlight the mechanisms of pain, its phenotypes, and novel assessment tools. We also review our approach to managing chronic pain in axSpA and discuss future directions in this field.</p>","PeriodicalId":50983,"journal":{"name":"Best Practice & Research in Clinical Rheumatology","volume":" ","pages":"102150"},"PeriodicalIF":4.8000,"publicationDate":"2026-04-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Best Practice & Research in Clinical Rheumatology","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.berh.2026.102150","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"RHEUMATOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) is an immune-mediated inflammatory condition that is associated with significant disease burden. While the use of biologic and targeted synthetic disease modifying antirheumatic drugs have led to significant improvements in disease outcomes, a substantial proportion of patients continue to face challenges with pain despite effective control of their inflammatory state. Chronic pain is one of the leading causes of disability and remains an unmet research and clinical need in axSpA. Phenotyping pain is essential to understand the etiology of symptoms and to aid in selecting the appropriate management plan in axSpA. In this review, we aim to highlight the mechanisms of pain, its phenotypes, and novel assessment tools. We also review our approach to managing chronic pain in axSpA and discuss future directions in this field.
期刊介绍:
Evidence-based updates of best clinical practice across the spectrum of musculoskeletal conditions.
Best Practice & Research: Clinical Rheumatology keeps the clinician or trainee informed of the latest developments and current recommended practice in the rapidly advancing fields of musculoskeletal conditions and science.
The series provides a continuous update of current clinical practice. It is a topical serial publication that covers the spectrum of musculoskeletal conditions in a 4-year cycle. Each topic-based issue contains around 200 pages of practical, evidence-based review articles, which integrate the results from the latest original research with current clinical practice and thinking to provide a continuous update.
Each issue follows a problem-orientated approach that focuses on the key questions to be addressed, clearly defining what is known and not known. The review articles seek to address the clinical issues of diagnosis, treatment and patient management. Management is described in practical terms so that it can be applied to the individual patient. The serial is aimed at the physician in both practice and training.