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Pre-surgical rheumatoid arthritis medication timing questioned

Thursday 10th November 2011
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Changes could be made to the way that rheumatoid arthritis medications are dispensed before patients undergo surgery.

Research presented at the annual meeting of the American College of Rheumatology has highlighted the fact that doctors have been stopping anti-TNF medications sooner than is necessary before surgery.

Investigators claim making improvements to the timings could minimise the risk of disease flares and that this is an area which warrants further study.

Dr Lisa Mandl, rheumatologist at the Hospital for Special Surgery, has suggested that adopting a pharmacologically-based timing system could reduce postoperative flares.

She said: "It doesn't look like there are any increases in infections or blood clots or other problems that go along with these anti-TNFs, which is comforting for patients who are on these drugs who are going in for surgery."

A recent study published in Nature Immunology has discovered a protein that is pro-inflammatory can actually suppress certain aspects of this reaction.

Posted by Mathew HortonADNFCR-1780-ID-800894480-ADNFCR

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