Subcutaneous and intravenous applications of abatacept therapy used in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis show similar efficacy

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this study was to compare the intravenous (IV) and subcutaneous (SC) applications of abatacept in terms of effectiveness in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Methods: Patients with RA who received IV or SC abatacept therapies at the Department of Rheumatology, Fırat University, between 2014 and 2017 were enrolled in the study. Laboratory and clinical data of patients including disease activity indices [DAS28-CRP (DAS; Disease Activity score), CDAI (Clinical Disease Activity index), functional status (HAQ; health assessment questionnaire), Visual Analog scale for pain (VAS-pain), patient’s global assessment (VAS-global), physician’s global assessment (VAS-physician), number of swollen and sensitive joints] were evaluated, retrospectively. Results: The number of patients receiving abatacept therapy was 35. 57.1% of the patients were using IV (n=20) and 42.9% were using SC (n=15) abatacept. The rate of continuing abatacept treatment was 60% in the IV abatacept group (n=12) and 53.3% in the SC abatacept group (n=8) (p=0.693). There was no statistical difference between the two groups in terms of DAS28-CRP, CDAI, VAS-pain, VAS-global, VAS-physician, and HAQ scores. Conclusion: In this study, it was found that there was no statistically significant difference in terms of efficacy between the IV and SC applications of the abatacept therapy used in the treatment of RA. © 2020 by the Turkish Society for Rheumatology / Journal of Turkish Society for Rheumatology published by Galenos Publishing House.