Patients with rheumatological diseases usually require a specialist called a rheumatologist, who has special training to manage their disease.1
According to the American College of Rheumatology, “a rheumatologist is an internist who received further training in the diagnosis and treatment of musculoskeletal diseases and systemic autoimmune conditions commonly referred to as rheumatic diseases.”2 Examples of rheumatic diseases that rheumatologists treat are osteoarthritis, gout, rheumatoid arthritis, chronic back pain, tendinitis, and lupus. These conditions can affect various parts of the body, most often in joints, muscles, and bones, but they can also have extra-articular manifestations, especially for rheumatoid arthritis.3,4 Therefore, rheumatic diseases may also affect the cardiovascular, dermatologic, ophthalmologic, pulmonary, gastrointestinal, renal, hepatic, neurologic, and hematologic systems.5 Rheumatologists are distinct from orthopedists in that rheumatologists do not perform surgeries, while orthopedists don’t typically provide medications for autoimmune or rheumatic diseases.2
References
- Rat AC, Henegariu V, Boissier MC. Do primary care physicians have a place in the management of rheumatoid arthritis? Joint Bone Spine 2004; 71 (3): 190-197.
- American College of Rheumatology. What is a rheumatologist? 2018; https://www.rheumatology.org/I-Am-A/Patient-Caregiver/Health-Care-Team/What-is-a-Rheumatologist. Accessed September 27, 2019.
- Turesson C, O'Fallon WM, Crowson CS, et al. Extra-articular disease manifestations in rheumatoid arthritis: incidence trends and risk factors over 46 years. Ann Rheum Dis 2003; 62 (8): 722-727.
- Myasoedova E, Crowson CS, Turesson C, et al. Incidence of extraarticular rheumatoid arthritis in Olmsted County, Minnesota, in 1995-2007 versus 1985-1994: a population-based study. J Rheumatol 2011; 38 (6): 983-989.
- Sparks JA. Rheumatoid Arthritis. Ann Intern Med 2019; 170 (1): ITC1-ITC16.
