Fibromyalgia and centralized pain in the rheumatoid arthritis patient

Individuals with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) have traditionally been characterized as having nociceptive pain, leading to the assumption that effective immunosuppression should be enough to provide effective pain management. However, despite therapeutic advancements providing excellent control of inflammation, patients continue to have significant pain and fatigue. The presence of concurrent fibromyalgia, driven by augmented central nervous system processing and largely unresponsive to peripheral therapies, may contribute to this pain persistence. This review provides updates on fibromyalgia and RA as relevant for the clinician.

Patients with RA have high levels of concomitant fibromyalgia and nociplastic pain. The presence of fibromyalgia can lead to higher scores on disease measures, erroneously indicating that worse disease is presently leading to the increased use of immunosuppressives and opioids. Disease scores that provide a comparison between patient-reported and provider-reported and clinical factors may be helpful to indicate centralized pain. IL-6 and Janus kinase inhibitors, in addition to targeting peripheral inflammation, may provide pain relief by acting on peripheral and central pain pathways.

Central pain mechanisms that may be contributing to pain in RA are common and should be distinguished from pain directly arising from peripheral inflammation.