Rheumatology Clinical Briefs

• Tai Chi May Help Reduce Pain of Knee Osteoarthritis in Older Patients CME In a randomized controlled trial, Tai Chi was associated with decreased pain and improved physical function, self-efficacy, depression, and health-related quality of life for knee osteoarthritis.
  Medscape Medical News CME, November 2009
• Intramuscular Methylprednisolone-Acetate May Be Helpful in Very Early Inflammatory Polyarthritis CME/CE In a randomized controlled trial, this treatment appears to postpone the prescription of disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs and prevent 1 in 10 patients from progressing into rheumatoid arthritis.
  Medscape Medical News CME, October 2009
• Nontramadol Opioids Should Not Be Routinely Used for Osteoarthritis CME/CE In a review, small to moderate benefits of nontramadol opioids were outweighed by large increases in risk for adverse events; these should not be used routinely even if osteoarthritic pain is severe.
  Medscape Medical News CME, October 2009
• Patients With Rheumatoid Arthritis Should Participate in Exercise Programs CME A Cochrane review suggests that aerobic capacity training with muscle strength training is safe and effective and should be recommended as routine practice in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.
  Medscape Medical News CME, October 2009
• Surgery Provides Modest Benefit for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome CME A new trial shows that surgery can be useful for patients with carpal tunnel syndrome and no denervation.
  Medscape Medical News CME, October 2009
• Guidelines Issued for Cardiovascular Risk Management in Patients With Inflammatory Arthritis CME The European League Against Rheumatism has issued 10 recommendations for cardiovascular risk management in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, and psoriatic arthritis.
  Medscape Medical News CME, October 2009
• Chronic Pain May Cause Similar Disability Linked With Aging at Earlier Ages CME/CE In a cross-sectional study, younger people with pain had disability similar to that of people who were 2 to 3 decades older without pain.
  Medscape Medical News CME, September 2009
• Aromatase Inhibitors and Joint Pain: A Deeper Look CME One third of postmenopausal women receiving aromatase inhibitors as adjuvant therapy for breast cancer have joint pain. What's happening rheumatologically in these women?
  Medscape Medical News CME, September 2009
• Quadriceps Strength Linked to Lower Risk for Symptomatic Knee Osteoarthritis CME In a cohort study, quadriceps strength did not predict the occurrence of radiographic knee osteoarthritis in either sex but predicted lower incidence of painful or stiff knee osteoarthritis in women.
  Medscape Medical News CME, September 2009
• Surgery for Degenerative Lumbar Scoliosis Often Effective: Review CME In patients with degenerative lumbar scoliosis, decompression surgery with or without fusion to relieve nerve root compression and stabilize the spinal column is an effective option.
  Reuters Health Information CME, August 2009
• Trial Results Raise Doubts About Vertebroplasty CME Two new clinical trials have found that control-group patients experienced similar improvements to those treated with vertebroplasty.
  Medscape Medical News CME, August 2009
• Depression Severity Linked to Inflammation in Patients With RA CME In a new study, depression severity and inflammation were associated with each other and had independent effects on pain; a second study looked at the effect of spousal depression on the course of RA.
  Medscape Medical News CME, August 2009
• Infliximab May Be Helpful in Early Rheumatoid Arthritis Refractory to Methotrexate CME In a randomized controlled trial, adding infliximab, a tumor necrosis factor antagonist, to methotrexate monotherapy was clinically superior to adding disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs.
  Medscape Medical News CME, August 2009
• FDA Approvals: Onglyza and Colcrys CME/CE The FDA has approved saxagliptin tablets to control hyperglycemia in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and oral colchicine for the treatment of familial Mediterranean fever and acute gout flares.
  Medscape Medical News CME, August 2009
• Postmenopausal Hormone Therapy May Modestly Reduce Gout Risk CME In a prospective study, menopause was linked to an increased risk for gout and postmenopausal hormone therapy to modestly reduced gout risk.
  Medscape Medical News CME, July 2009
• Benefits of Intensive Methotrexate Treatment Outweigh Adverse Events in Early Rheumatoid Arthritis CME A study of methotrexate in patients with rheumatoid arthritis shows a higher occurrence of adverse events but better clinical efficacy with intensive treatment vs conventional treatment with the drug.
  Medscape Medical News CME, July 2009
• FDA Safety Changes: Prevpac, Arava, Treanda CME/CE The FDA has approved safety labeling revisions for a prepackaged regimen of lansoprazole, amoxicillin, and clarithromycin tablets; leflunomide tablets; and bendamustine HCl intravenous infusion.
  Medscape Medical News CME, July 2009
• FDA Safety Changes: Sarafem, Mavik, Cordarone CME/CE The FDA has approved safety labeling revisions for deferasirox tablets for fluoxetine HCl (Sarafem tablets), trandolapril (Mavik tablets), and amiodarone HCl (Cordarone tablets).
  Medscape Medical News CME, June 2009
• Surgery May Relieve Pain of Degenerative Spondylolisthesis CME A study shows that patients choosing surgery for degenerative spondylolisthesis with spinal stenosis have substantially greater relief from pain with time vs those who do not have surgery.
  Medscape Medical News CME, June 2009
• Hydroxychloroquine Use May Be Safe in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus CME A systematic review suggests that hydroxychloroquine should be given to most patients with systemic lupus erythematosus during the whole course of the disease and should be continued during pregnancy.
  Medscape Medical News CME, June 2009