The key difference between Ankylosing Spondylitis and Degenerative Disc Disease is that the Ankylosing spondylitis is an inflammatory disease condition while degenerative disc disease is a degenerative condition of the intervertebral discs.
The age-related wearing off of the intervertebral discs is the main cause of degenerative disc disease. Ankylosing spondylitis, on the other hand, is a type of inflammatory arthritis characterized by the inflammation of the spine and the sacroiliac joints.
CONTENTS
1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is Ankylosing Spondylitis
3. What is Degenerative Disc Disease
4. Similarities Between Ankylosing Spondylitis and Degenerative Disc Disease
5. Side by Side Comparison – Ankylosing Spondylitis vs Degenerative Disc Disease in Tabular Form
6. Summary
What is Ankylosing Spondylitis?
Ankylosing spondylitis is a type of inflammatory arthritis that has a characteristic feature of inflammation of the spine and the sacroiliac joints. Identifying the sacroiliac joint involvement is possible through an MRI scan. There is a male preponderance with the male to female ratio been 3:1. Therefore, the peak incidence is from the late teens to early thirties.
Clinical Features
The clinical features categorize into two main groups; articular manifestations and non-articular manifestations.
Articular Manifestations
- Back pain
- Unilateral or bilateral buttock pain
- Retention in the lumbar lordosis during flexion
- The involvement of the costochondral junction gives rise to a pain thereby impairing the chest movements during inspiration
Non-articular Manifestations
- Anterior uveitis
- Aortic valve incompetence
- Apical fibrosis
- Renal problems mainly due to the chronic use of NSAIDs
- Axial osteoporosis and spinal fractures
Figure 01: Bamboo Tree Appearance in Ankylosing Spondylitis
Investigations
- Blood tests – to identify any increase in the acute phase reactants ESR and CRP
- X-rays – show a typical Bamboo spine along with sclerosis and fusion of the lateral and medial margins of the sacroiliac joints
- MRI
Management
- Early morning exercises are extremely important in preventing the development of deformities such as dorsal kyphosis.
- NSAIDs can alleviate the pain
- Methotrexate and sulfasalazine can control the inflammatory processes
What is Degenerative Disc Disease?
The age-related wearing off of the intervertebral discs is the main cause of degenerative disc disease. Intervertebral discs act as shock absorbers and reduce the friction during the movements between two vertebrae. Sometimes the discs can get microscopic fractures also.
Symptoms
- Backache
- The pain worsens in the sitting position and the movements improve the pain
- If any spinal nerves are compressed or impinged there can be numbness or a tingling sensation over the area supplied by the particular nerve.
Investigations
When the disease is clinically diagnosed. We do MRI and X-rays to exclude other possible causes and confirm the clinical diagnosis.
Management
- Pain relief through NSAIDs
- Physiotherapy
- Postural adjustments
- The inflammatory processes can be arrested by using corticosteroids
- Surgical removal of the damaged disc or discs when the other options fail.
What are the Similarities Between Ankylosing Spondylitis and Degenerative Disc Disease?
- There is a spinal involvement in both disease conditions
- Back pain is the commonest presenting complaint in both the diseases
- X-rays and MRI can be used to differentiate ankylosing spondylitis from the degenerative disc disease.
What is the Difference Between Ankylosing Spondylitis and Degenerative Disc Disease?
Ankylosing spondylitis is an inflammatory disease condition. Moreover, it is a type of inflammatory arthritis characterized by the inflammation of the spine and the sacroiliac joints. Degenerative disc disease is principally age-related degenerative condition. Therefore, the age-related wearing off of the intervertebral discs is the main cause of degenerative disc disease. This is the main difference between ankylosing spondylitis and degenerative disc disease. Furthermore, below shown are more differences in the clinical features, diagnosis, and the management of these two disease conditions.
Summary – Ankylosing Spondylitis vs Degenerative Disc Disease
Patients with both ankylosing spondylitis and degenerative disc disease typically present with a back pain. Ankylosing spondylitis is a type of inflammatory arthritis characterized by the inflammation of the spine and the sacroiliac joints but degenerative disc disease is an age-related degenerative condition. This is the main difference between ankylosing spondylitis and degenerative disc disease.
Reference:
1.Parveen Kumar. Kumar and Clark’s Clinical Medicine. Edited by Michael L Clark, 8th ed.
Image Courtesy:
1.’Bamboo spine ankylosing spondylitis’By Stevenfruitsmaak – Own work, (CC BY-SA 3.0) via Commons Wikimedia
2.’1944329′ by typographyimages (CC0) via pixabay
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