Fifteen months' follow-up of intensive inpatient physiotherapy and exercise in ankylosing spondylitis

Abstract

Long-term effects of three or four-week inpatient physiotherapy and exercise courses were studied in 141 adult patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS). Eight cervical and thoracolumbar range of motion (ROM) measurements and straight leg raise test, vital capacity (VC) and fitness index were measured at the beginning and end of an intensive course and 15 months later. All nine mobility measurements, vital capacity and fitness index were significantly improved after the course. Fifteen months later only chest expansion and vital capacity had significantly deteriorated from the baseline, while CR, FFD and fitness index were still significantly better. Disease duration did not influence treatment results. We conclude that it is possible by means of intensive rehabilitation courses to prevent for more than one year deterioration of spinal function and fitness in AS patients irrespective of disease duration.

Treatment of ankylosing spondylitis with biologics and targeted physical therapy

“…__Physical therapy applied individually or in groups has general and specific beneficial effects for patients suffering from AS [28,29,30]. Several studies reported improvement in the wall-to-occiput distance, finger-to-floor distance, chest expansion, Schober Index, and pulmonary function after a couple of weeks of intensive physiotherapy [1,14,31,32]. __In study II, which was a prospective but nonrandomized self-controlled study, we investigated functional and physical parameters with respect to the above mentioned structural-functional changes in AS patients currently receiving anti-TNF therapy.…”

Improvement in pain intensity, spine stiffness, and mobility during a controlled individualized physiotherapy program in ankylosing spondylitis

“…Vesovic-Potic et al [25] reported significant correlation between disease duration, symptoms duration and BASFI. The efficacy of various physiotherapy programs has been assessed by several groups [12,14,15,[26][27][28] concluding that exercise programs are important and useful part of the complex therapy of ASDagfinrud et al [14] recently reviewed the available body of evidence on the efficacy of physiotherapy interventions in AS. This meta-analysis suggests that an individual homebased or supervised exercise program is better than having no intervention.…”

“…It has been demonstrated that by intensive rehabilitation courses it is possible to prevent deterioration of spinal function, however fitness in AS patients irrespective of disease duration [12]. The efficacy of intensive inpatient physiotherapy has been reported by changes in subjective and functional parameters, from which OWD, CE and FFD showed the greatest improvement [11].…”

“…Stiffness and pain in the cervical spine generally occur in the early stages of the disease and tend to develop after some years. The involvement of other joints, such as the hips may cause flexion contractures eventually leading to characteristic, rigid gait with flexion with knee to maintain erect posture ( Figure 1) [6,[10][11][12]. Therefore, the long-term follow-up of AS patients needs to include repetitive assessments of inflammation, pain, structural changes and deterioration of function [13,14].…”

Shoulder, Knee, and Hip Pain as Initial Symptoms of Juvenile Ankylosing Spondylitis: A Case Report

“…Three to four weeks of intensive, inpatient therapy was found to improve spine range of motion, vital capacity, and a general fitness index, both at the end of the treatment program and at a 15month follow-up visit (20). Another study determined that patient education and a home exercise p r e gram over a 4month period increased back flexibility as measured by fingertip to floor distance, but not by Schober's test (14).…”