Managing Psoriatic Arthritis Patients Presenting with Axial Symptoms

Axial symptoms (i.e., back pain) are common in the general population. At the same time 25–70% of patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA) exhibit signs of inflammatory axial involvement (axial PsA). The presence of unexplained chronic (duration ≥ 3 months) back pain in a patient with psoriasis or PsA should trigger evaluation of the presence of axial involvement. Evaluation of axial involvement normally involves imaging of the axial skeleton (sacroiliac joints and/or spine) in addition to clinical and laboratory evaluation. Symptomatic patients with confirmed axial PsA are treated with a combination of non-pharmacologic and pharmacologic methods including the use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, tumour necrosis factor, interleukin 17, and Janus kinase inhibitors. Interleukin 23 blockade might also be effective in the axial domain of PsA; a dedicated clinical study is ongoing at present. Safety considerations, patient preference, as well as the presence of other disease manifestations (especially of extra-musculoskeletal manifestations—clinically relevant psoriasis, acute anterior uveitis, inflammatory bowel disease), define the choice of a specific drug or drug class.