Advances in diagnostic and treatment options in patients with fibromyalgia syndrome

Review

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Authors: Ali Gur, Pelin Oktayoglu

Published Date December 2009 Volume 2009:1 Pages 193 - 209

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.2147/OARRR.S8040

Ali Gur¹, Pelin Oktayoglu²

¹Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Medical Faculty, Gaziantep University, Gaziantep, Turkey; ²Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Batman State Hospital, Batman, Turkey

Abstract: Fibromyalgia (FM) is characterized as a chronic, painful, noninflammatory syndrome affecting the musculoskeletal system. In addition to pain, common co-morbid symptoms associated with FM include sleep disturbances, fatigue, morning stiffness, affective disorders, chronic daily headache, dyscognition, irritable bowel syndrome, and irritable bladder. Fibromyalgia is usually classified by application of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) criteria. Although these criteria are accepted among investigators who agree with the concept of fibromyalgia, they do so with some reservations. Tender points and widespread pain alone does not describe the esence of fibromyalgia. New diagnostic tools including either clinical or radiological components are studied to diminish these problems. Although various pharmacological solutions have been studied for treating fibromyalgia, no single drug or groups of drugs have proved to be useful in treating fibromyalgia patients. Recently, three drugs, pregabalin, duloxetine and milnacipran, were approved for the treatment of FM by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Novel therapeutic approaches to the management of FM include cannabinoids, sodium channel blockade and new generation antiepileptics. This review evaluates both new diagnostic tools, including clinical or radiological regimes, and tries to highlight the efficacy of medicinal and nonmedicinal treatments with new therapeutic approaches in the management of FM with a wide perspective.

Keywords: diagnosis, fibromyalgia, rehabilitation, treatment