The treatment of ankylosing spondylitis

Ankylosing spondylitis is an inflammatory disorder affecting the axial skeleton and periphery. Symptoms can often be debilitating. Current therapy for the disease include physical therapy, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS, anti-rheumatic disease modifying drugs (DMARDS), and the newly developed biologic agents targeting tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α). This paper will provide a comprehensive review of these treatments which focusing on evidence based medicine for the daily clinical practice of rheumatology. Received: 31 December 2002 / Accepted: 15 January 2003 Correspondence to J.C. Davis Jr.