Presentation of pain in patients suffering from systemic sclerosis
Introduction: Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a chronic autoimmune disease with very heterogeneous clinical manifestations. There are not many studies which directly research the pain experienced by patients with SSc. Aim: Evaluation of pain in patients with verified systemic sclerosis; making compariso...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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University of Belgrade, Medical Faculty
2016-01-01
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| Series: | Medicinski Podmladak |
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| Online Access: | http://scindeks-clanci.ceon.rs/data/pdf/0369-1527/2016/0369-15271603074J.pdf |
| Summary: | Introduction: Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a chronic autoimmune disease with very heterogeneous clinical manifestations. There are not many studies which directly research the pain experienced by patients with SSc. Aim: Evaluation of pain in patients with verified systemic sclerosis; making comparison in the two subsets of SSc (diffuse and limited) and in the anti-centromere antibodies (ACA) and anti-topoisomerase-I antibodies (ATA) detected in patients. Material and methods: The study group included 42 patients with SSc. The research was conducted at the Institute of Rheumatology in Belgrade. Each patient was asked to complete the questionnaire, which included the questions about frequency, location and intensity of the pain. Two statistical methodologies were used in the data analysis: descriptive and analytical statistics. Results: Most of the patients (93%) confirmed they had some kind of pain . Arthralgia was the most common pain symptom (78,6%), 29 (69%) suffered from pain during Raynaud phenomenon, the back pain was found in 20 (47,6%), a headache in 13 (31%), the chest pain in 10 (23,8%), odynophagia in 9 (21,4%) and in 8 (19%) patients painful digital ulcers. The pain from digital ulcers was rated as the most intensive with the average value of 8,5/10. The patients with diffuse subset of SSc had a higher average intensity score of arthralgia (7,6), compared to those with limited SSc (5,5). The statistically significant difference in the frequency and intensity of the pain in the patients with anti-topoisomerase-I antibodies and the patients with anti-centromere antibodies was not found. Conclusion: Most of the patients suffer from some kind of pain. The most common pain was arthralgia, and the most intensive one was from digital ulcers, although it was the rarest. The pain frequency and intensity were not significantly different in patients with anti-topoisomerase-I and anti-centromere antibodies. There was a statisticaly significant difference in the average value of arthralgia intensity, between the patients with diffuse and the patients with limited SSc. |
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| ISSN: | 0369-1527 2466-5525 |