Aim: To establish guidelines for the clinical management of axial spondyloarthritis that take into account local issues and clinical practice concerns for Taiwan.
Method: Overarching principles and recommendations were established by consensus among a panel of rheumatology and rehabilitation experts, based on analysis of the most up-to-date clinical evidence and the clinical experience of panelists. All Overarching Principles and Recommendations were graded according to the standards developed by the Oxford Centre for Evidence Based Medicine, and further evaluated and modified using the Delphi method.
Results: The guidelines specifically address issues such as local medical considerations, National Health Insurance reimbursement, and management of extra-articular manifestations.
Conclusion: It is hoped that this will help to optimize clinical management outcomes for axial spondyloarthritis in Taiwan.
Keywords: IL-17 inhibitor; TNF inhibitor; ankylosing spondylitis; axial spondyloarthritis; extra-articular manifestation; non-radiographic axial spondyloarthritis; spinal fracture.
© 2019 The Authors. International Journal of Rheumatic Diseases published by Asia Pacific League of Associations for Rheumatology and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.