Arthroscopic Synovectomy Combined With DMARDs in the Treatment of Refractory Elbow Rheumatoid Arthritis

Arthroscopic Synovectomy Combined With DMARDs in the Treatment of Refractory Elbow Rheumatoid Arthritis

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disease characterized by chronic and aggressive polyarthritis. The prevalence of RA in China is about 0.42%. Arthroscopic synovectomy (AS) is an important method to save the function of joint in the treatment of refractory RA. The clinical trial is to study the value of AS combine with DMARDs in the early stage of refractory RA.

Inclusion Criteria:

• The patients who fulfilled the 1987 ACR（American College of Rheumatology) or 2010 ACR/EULAR（European League Against Rheumatism） RA classification criteria.
• The age is more than 18 years old and less than 60 years old.
• They received stable traditional DMARDs (including Chrysopidae, leflunomide, sulfasalazine, hydroxychloroquine, eilamod) or biological dmrads (including tumor necrosis factor antagonists, IL(Interleukin)-6 receptor antagonists, CD20 monoclonal antibodies) for at least 6 months.
• The disease is still in the active stage, which means the disease activity score (DAS28) is more than 3.2, and the elbow joint function is obviously limited.
• The patient agreed to undergo arthroscopic synovectomy.
• No contraindications were found.

Exclusion Criteria:

• The disease is in remission.
• The patient has contraindications.
• Arthroscopic synovectomy was performed in different patients.