Nonarticular rheumatism and spondyloarthropathies

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Musculoskeletal pain is a common symptom in primary care practice, and patients are naturally concerned that they may have arthritis. In many cases, this is not so; the problem turns out to be nonarticular rheumatism or, less often, spondyloarthropathy. However, the early stages of many rheumatic conditions have common core features that may be misleading. In this article, Dr Bennett describes similarities and dissimilarities between nonarticular rheumatism and the spondyloarthropathies and gives guidelines for diagnosis and treatment.