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The following is a summary of “People with osteoarthritis have a higher component of neuropathic pain as compared to those with rheumatoid arthritis: A cross-sectional study,” published in the July 2024 issue of Rheumatology by Mahajan et al.

Neuropathic pain can occur in patients with osteoarthritis (OA) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA), influencing management strategies.

Researchers conducted a retrospective study comparing the prevalence of neuropathic pain in patients with OA to RA.

They included patients with OA and RA without pre-existing neuropathic disorders. The PainDETECT questionnaire assessed neuropathic pain, while WOMAC and CDAI scores evaluated disease severity in OA and RA, respectively. The cohort comprised 69 patients with OA with an average WOMAC score of 53.30 ± 16.39 and 98 patients with RA with a mean CDAI of 25.48 ± 16.99.

The result showed that the score for median PainDETECT was 13 (range 0–30) for patients with OA and 5 (range 0–37) for patients with RA, showing a significant difference (P<0.001). Neuropathic pain was highly probable in 15 patients with OA and 6 with RA, while it was considered possible in an additional 15 OA and 30 patients with RA. The percentage of patients without neuropathic pain was significantly higher in the group with RA (63.3%) compared to the group with OA (39.1%) (P=0.003).

Investigators concluded that neuropathic pain was more prevalent and severe in OA than in RA, underscoring the need for consideration in management and further research.

Source: link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00296-024-05657-7