Treatment of psoriatic arthritis

The treatment of psoriatic arthritis has acquired relevance in the past few years because of advances and better understanding of the pathogenetic mechanisms implicated in the disease, and also because of recognition that this disorder is not a benign disease as was previously thought. The general principles of management for any inflammatory arthritis, including pharmacological, surgical and rehabilitative treatment, are to be used, with concomitant therapeutic management of skin involvement. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs constitute the mainstay of pharmacological therapy for most patients, with a good clinical response observed in 75-85%. Early use of remittive agents, especially methotrexate, is indicated in patients with a poor response to NSAIDs or those with polyarticular and progressive joint involvement. Patients who are refractory to conventional therapy should be considered for newer and potentially more toxic therapeutic modalities such as cyclosporin A and retinoids.