Recommendations of the Moroccan Society of Rheumatology (SMR) for the Therapeutic Management of Spondyloarthritis (SpA) including Psoriatic Arthritis (PsA)

Abstract

The advent of new therapeutic classes and the updating of international recommendations have justified the development of recent recommendations by the Moroccan Society of Rheumatology. Methods Guidelines were drafted by a core steering committee after performing a literature search. A multidisciplinary task force, including three fellows, eleven rheumatologists, a specialist in physical medicine and rehabilitation, an epidemiologist from hospital-university, hospital and liberal sectors and one patient assessed the Best Practice Guidelines using 2 rounds of anonymous online voting by modified Delphi process. Thus, 19 recommendations were developed. Recommendation 1 concerns the therapeutic principles, recommendation 2 insists on the information and education of the patient, recommendation 3 concerns the general measures to be adopted, namely physical activity, smoking cessation and psychological support, recommendation 4 concerns Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs which constitute the first-line treatment, recommendations 5 to 7 concern the use of analgesics, of general and local corticosteroid therapy and conventional synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs, recommendations 8 to 13 deal with the use of biologic agents, including new classes and their indications in radiographic and nonradiographic axial and peripheral spondyloarthritis, follow-up and management in case of failure or remission, recommendation 14 deals with the indication for Janus kinase inhibitors drugs, recommendation 15 deals with physical treatment and recommendation 16 deals with the indication of surgery. Recommendations 17 to 19 deal with special situations, namely fibromyalgia, vaccination and pregnancy. A well-defined therapeutic strategy with first- and second-line treatments has been established.

Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices of Moroccan Community Rheumatologists’ Regarding the Management of Non-radiographic Axial Spondyloarthritis: A National Cross-Sectional Study

“…In accordance with the guidelines from the Moroccan SMR for the therapeutic management of SpA [ 24 ], biological treatments are recommended for nr-axSpA patients with an inadequate response to non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, along with specific criteria including Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index (BASDAI) ≥4 or Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Score (ASDAS) ≥2.1 and positive CRP and/or inflammatory signs on MRI.…”