Evaluation of Neuropathic Pain in Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients: Relation to Clinical and Laboratory findings | ||||
| Benha Journal of Applied Sciences | ||||
| Article 25, Volume 7, Issue 4, April 2022, Page 193-196 PDF (612.23 K) | ||||
| Document Type: Original Research Papers | ||||
| DOI: 10.21608/bjas.2022.257794 | ||||
 View on SCiNiTO | ||||
| Authors | ||||
| A.S. Elbrashy; A.F. Soliman; M.E. Khalil; N.H. Ibrahim; O.G. El Saeid | ||||
| Rehabilitation and Physical Medicine, Dept., Faculty of Medicine, Benha Univ., Benha, Egypt | ||||
| Abstract | ||||
| Background: Rheumatoid arthritis is a multi-system autoimmune disorder predominantly involving multiple small and large joints along with certain extra-articular manifestations with the incidence of around 39.19% as per previous studies. The presence of peripheral neuropathy in patients with rheumatoid arthritis contributes significantly to the functional limitation in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Early diagnosis and treatment of peripheral neuropathy has been shown to improve both physical and functional disabilities of patients with RA. Objectives: The objective was to assess neuropathic pain in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) having neuropathic symptoms and to evaluate the relationship between electrophysiological findings and clinical &laboratory findings of RA. Materials and Methods: Consecutive patients of RA were recruited. Detailed clinical examination and electrophysiological tests were done to diagnose peripheral neuropathy. The demographic and clinical parameters were noted and tabulated. Student’s t‑test was used to analyze continuous variable, whereas Chi‑square test was used for analysis of categorical variables. Results: Of 60 patients with RA, 75.28% (n = 45) patients had peripheral neuropathy electro-physiologically. Statistically significant association between the presence of neuropathy and age of the patients, disease duration, use of disease‑modifying antirheumatic drugs, disease severity (disease activity score‑28), and activity in ultrasonography (P < 0.05). Conclusion: Patients with RA, especially elderly patients, should undergo electrophysiological testing to rule out peripheral neuropathy. Electrophysiological study is a diagnostic and gold standard tool to diagnose subclinical neuropathy in patients with RA. | ||||
| Keywords | ||||
| Rheumatoid arthritis; Neuropathic pain; Peripheral neuropathy | ||||
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