From 10th Congress of the Asia-Pacific Federation of Societies of Surgery fo the Hand and the 6th Congress of Asia-Pacific Federation of Societies of Hand Therapists

The hands are commonly involved in RA Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic, auto-immune dis-order characterised by inflammation primarily in the joints. The small joints in the hands are typically involved in RA, with both the 1987 American Rheumatism Asso-ciation revised criteria for RA classification including “arthritis of hand joints ” as one of the criterion [1] and the 2010 RA classification criteria awarding more points for small joint involvement (i.e. themetacarpophalangeal joints, proximal interphalangeal joints, second to fifth metatarsophalangeal joints, thumb interphalangeal joints and wrists) [2]. RA is the most common of the inflammatory arthri-tides; a study in the UK found the prevalence of RA to be 1.16 % in women and 0.44 % in men [3]. In Asia, the pre-valence of RA varies from country to country. In rura