Rheumatoid Arthritis Presenting with Low Back and Leg Pain: An Uncommon Case

Abstract

Low back is a very frequently seen disease which can be an indicator of many diseases with heterogenous distribution. Mechanical causes are responsible for 90%-95% of cases with chronic low back pain and the most common reasons are degenerative disc pathologies and facet joint problems. The 5%-10% of non-mechanical causes of low back pain include neoplastic primary or metastatic problems, infection, fibromyalgia, somatoform disorders, inflammatory arthritis, Paget’s disease and Scheuermann kyphosis. In rheumatoid arthritis patients, low back pain has been reported at the rate of 33-40%, but this low back pain has been reported not as a symptom of RA but as a development associated with inflammation, flare-up of disease, or the use of insufficient or ineffective drugs. Herein, we have reported a patient who presented with complaints of low back and leg pain without any additional complaint and diagnosed as rheumatoid arthritis. Patients may not always present with clinical symptoms of RA and it should be kept in mind that the first symptoms of RA can be low back and leg pain.