15/07/2022
When is ankylosing spondylitis surgery needed?
Ankylosing spondylitis often has no specific disease symptoms, so it is easy to be confused with other spinal diseases. This is a dangerous disease, but if detected early and treated promptly, the condition can be significantly improved. Ankylosing spondylitis surgery is one of the methods to help doctors treat this disease. So when does a patient need surgery for ankylosing spondylitis?
1. What is ankylosing spondylitis?
Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS) is a typical disease of the group of diseases of the joints - spine. Inflammation occurs at each joint between the vertebrae of the spine, or between the spine and the pelvis. Sometimes inflammation is also noted in other joint locations such as neck joints, wrist joints, ankles, ...
Ankylosing spondylitis is more common in men than women with a 2-3 times higher rate. Although the disease develops slowly, but if not treated early and properly, it will progress to inflammation, adhesion of spinal and peripheral joints, causing kyphosis, loss of function and disability.
2.Causes and symptoms of ankylosing spondylitis
2.1. The cause to the illness
To date, researchers have not found the exact cause of ankylosing spondylitis. However, researchers have identified genetic factors and environmental factors that have a relationship with ankylosing spondylitis.
The main features of the disease are inflammation and fibrosis, calcification of ligaments, joint capsule (especially at spinal position), tendon attachment points.
2.2. Symptoms of the disease
Although ankylosing spondylitis is not a rare disease, it is easy to ignore because the symptoms are not too specific, so patients often ignore the symptoms of ankylosing spondylitis. Here are the symptoms of the disease that patients should pay attention to so that they can go to the doctor and receive timely treatment:
- The initial symptom is usually pain in the lumbar spine or back - lumbar region. Patients will find that the spine is prone to pain and fatigue, when movement is not flexible. If the pain persists for more than 3 months, you need to see a doctor immediately for a timely examination.
- In some cases, there are isolated peripheral arthritis manifestations such as persistent painful swelling of a large joint in young people, but no axial manifestations of the skeleton.
- Standing posture gradually appeared abnormal: increased cervical spine, increased hunchback, loss of lumbar spine curvature leading to forward stooping.
Besides, there are other less common peripheral symptoms such as osteoporosis, iritis, aortic valve inflammation.
Basically, the symptoms in the early stages of the disease are quite vague and unclear, so it is easy for patients to subjectively miss. Therefore, as soon as the body is detected with the above symptoms, the patient should go to a medical facility specialized in musculoskeletal examination or clinical immunology to be examined and receive treatment for ankylosing spondylitis. timely.
3. Treatment protocol for ankylosing spondylitis
After combining the types of diagnosis (clinical, subclinical, definite, differential) and conclude that the patient has ankylosing spondylitis, the doctor will base on factors such as disease status, level of disease, and level of disease. disease severity, current manifestations of the disease, general clinical status,... in order to develop an appropriate treatment regimen.
In general, the treatment regimen for ankylosing spondylitis includes medical treatment, physical therapy and surgery. The aim of this treatment is anti-inflammatory, anti-pain; maintaining joint mobility, especially preventing stiffness in bad posture and overcoming ankylosing spondylitis (if any).
There are 3 treatment methods for ankylosing spondylitis:
3.1. Drug treatment
- Symptomatic treatment: non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), muscle relaxants.
- Specific treatment: If the patient has damage to the tendons and peripheral joints, use sulfasalazine.
In the absence of response to NSAIDs and sulfasalazine, biologic agents that inhibit TNF will be indicated.
In addition, because patients with ankylosing spondylitis have a higher risk of bone mineral loss than the general population, it is necessary to supplement with calcium and vitamin D3.
3.2. Non-drug treatment
Exercise, physical therapy and maintaining an upright body posture when walking, standing, sitting, lying down are essential for patients with ankylosing spondylitis. The above drug therapies can only help reduce pain and control inflammation, but are not able to completely reverse the disease. Therefore, if there is no exercise regimen, the disease will still progress silently.
3.3. Surgical treatment
If the patient's use of the above measures does not work, the doctor may prescribe a suitable knee or hip replacement.
4. When is surgery needed for ankylosing spondylitis?
Surgery for ankylosing spondylitis is one of the treatment methods. Basically, most cases of ankylosing spondylitis do not need to use this method during treatment. However, for special cases such as severe pain, severe joint damage or the need for an artificial hip replacement (in ankylosing spondylitis) and medical treatment is also ineffective, surgery for spondyloarthritis is recommended. Ankylosing spondylitis will be selected by doctors.
This method is chosen to prevent the disease from developing too badly, directly affecting the spine or hip area, which can cause disability to the patient.
While this treatment for ankylosing spondylitis can be more expensive than the other two, the success rate and recovery rate is also faster.
There are two surgical methods to correct the disease: laparoscopic surgery and balloon surgery. The doctor will base on the condition and extent of the disease to decide on the more optimal method.
In summary, spondylitis surgery is a very effective method, helping patients restore joint function and integrate back into daily life. However, to achieve high results, patients should go to medical centers with modern facilities and standard medical equipment to perform.