Prognosis
Many different factors influence the course of the disease. Decisive here are the time of the disease (age), the duration and the severity of the disease (if changes are already visible in the x-ray or not, other organs are also affected) and how quickly the disease progresses. About one third of all patients show a severe form of the disease.
Those who are severely affected have an increased risk of dying, especially of cardiovascular, kidney and respiratory diseases. Prognostically unfavorable signs are: Close monitoring by the attending physician is important for the prognosis in order to adapt the therapy to the course of the disease.
- Hip joint participation
- High inflammation values
- Early onset of illness before the age of 16
- Movement restrictions of the lumbar spine
- The infestation of finger, toe and other joints
- Poor/no response to non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs
- Severe peripheral complications.
Prophylaxis
Unfortunately, an inflammation of the back cannot be prevented. The risk of developing spondylarthritis is genetically determined and cannot really be influenced. Similarly, the development of inflammation of the vertebral bodies can hardly be influenced.
Summary
Back pain is one of the most common symptoms of today’s world. About 60 to 80 percent of Germans have suffered from back pain at least once in their lives. The causes of back pain are numerous.
Frequent are for example muscle tensions or slipped discs. In rare cases, an inflammation of the back or the vertebral bodies, vertebral ligaments, vertebral joints or sacroiliac joint is the cause of back pain, which is why it is called inflammatory back pain. Inflammatory back pain is usually triggered by rheumatic diseases, including Bekhterev’s disease, reactive joint inflammation (including Reiter’s syndrome), joint inflammation associated with other diseases such as chronic inflammatory bowel disease (for example, Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis) or psoriasis (psoriasis) or the undifferentiated joint inflammation that often occurs in children or adolescents.
Inflammations of the back or vertebral joints with rheumatic causes are also known as spondylarthritis. An inflammation of the back or vertebral bodies caused by an infection with bacteria or other germs is called spondylitis. Since an early start of therapy can improve the prognosis of an inflammation of the back and positively influence the course of the disease, a doctor should definitely be consulted if back pain persists for a longer period of time.
Depending on the cause of the inflammation in the back, i.e. rheumatic or infectious, different therapy concepts can be considered. They range from conservative treatment approaches, with medication and physiotherapy to surgical interventions.
