Clin Exp Rheumatol
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To describe the results of a Numeric Rating Scale (NRS)-guided pharmacological pain management strategy in symptomatic knee and hip osteoarthritis (OA) in daily clinical practice. ⋯ Adequate use of paracetamol and switching to a NSAID after failing paracetamol resulted in moderate treatment response percentages, whereas the result of a second NSAID was disappointing in patients with advanced knee and hip OA. Predictors for response included patient and disease related factors. A substantial part of patients with NRS >4 were unwilling to change their analgesics.
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To assess the safety and efficacy of long-term treatment with rituximab (RTX) in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc). ⋯ Our results indicate that long-term treatment with RTX may favourably affect lung function and skin fibrosis in patients with SSc. Larger scale, multicentre, randomised, controlled studies are needed to further explore the efficacy of RTX in SSc.