Treatment Guidelines in Pediatric Rheumatic Diseases

Abstract

Treatment guidelines provide strategies for managing specific disease conditions based on the best scientific evidence available. Pediatric rheumatologists manage predominantly rare autoimmune and autoinflammatory conditions. Although the availability of guidelines to inform treatment decisions in pediatric rheumatic diseases is desirable, only a few treatment guidelines exist. Furthermore, the rarity of these diseases limits the feasibility of conducting randomized controlled studies to inform guideline recommendations. Thus, there remains a need for stronger supporting evidence for recommendations, and treatment guidelines for rarer rheumatologic diseases. In this review, we give an overview of past and current guidelines in pediatric rheumatology.

Keywords: Guideline; Pediatrics; Rheumatology; Treatment.