[Guideline for the diagnosis and treatment of non-radiographic axial spondyloarthritis (2024 edition)].

Non-radiographic axial spondyloarthritis (nr-axSpA) is a new term of disease entity, which was introduced in 2009. Nearly ten targeted drugs have been approved for the indication of nr-axSpA abroad, and one drug has also been approved in China. However, in both China and other countries, many doctors, including rheumatologists, are not familiar with the accurate meaning of nr-axSpA. Overdiagnosis or misdiagnosis of nr-axSpA occurs occasionally in both clinical practice and clinical research. Therefore, Chinese Rheumatology Association and Committee for Rheumatologists and Immunologists of Chinese Primary Health Care Foundation convened a task force with the goal of providing an evidence-based guideline for the accurate diagnosis and appropriate treatment of nr-axSpA. The guideline focused on the detailed definitions of axSpA and nr-axSpA, key clues and pitfalls in imaging diagnosis, differential diagnosis, assessing disease activity, long-term outcome, risk factors of radiographic progression, therapeutic principles, non-pharmacological therapy, choices of therapeutic drugs and tapering of drugs, which covered 37 detailed clinical questions.