After receiving three injections, the knee can finally bend normally! "Ms. Zhang, a rheumatoid arthritis patient, pointed to the joint MRI image and said. Recently, Professor Zhang Fengchun's team from the Rheumatology and Immunology Department of Peking Union Medical College Hospital successfully controlled joint inflammation and pain for 5 years using a combination therapy of tocilizumab biologics. The relevant clinical data has been published in the Chinese Journal of Rheumatology.
This targeted drug targeting the IL-6 receptor can directly block the inflammatory signaling pathway. Compared with traditional nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, biologics can increase the relief rate of moderate to severe inflammatory pain by 40% and reduce the risk of joint deformities. In the past, 30% of difficult to treat patients faced the dilemma of having no drugs to treat them. Now, biologics have enabled them to regain their ability to live. "Professor Zhang Fengchun introduced that there are currently 12 biologics for inflammatory pain disorders on the market in China, and the coverage of medical insurance has expanded by 50% compared to last year.
The latest joint therapy of "neural regulation+biological agents" launched by the Pain Medicine Department of the People's Liberation Army General Hospital has achieved a breakthrough. The department uses percutaneous spinal cord electrical stimulation technology to preprocess lesions, followed by injection of adalimumab, which reduces the pain score of ankylosing spondylitis patients from 8.2 points to 2.1 points and shortens the treatment period to one-third of the traditional regimen.
The first medication guide for inflammatory pain has been released, breaking the public's misconceptions about medication
On August 16th, the "Painless China - Self medication Guidelines for Common Pain (Inflammatory Pain Chapter)" was officially released in Shanghai. This guide is led by the Hospital Pharmacy Professional Committee of the Chinese Pharmaceutical Association and jointly compiled by experts from 23 tertiary hospitals. It is the first popular science guidance manual in China that focuses on inflammatory pain.
More than 60% of patients self increase the dosage of painkillers, which increases the risk of gastric mucosal damage by three times, "said Feng Wanyu, the chief editor of the guidelines and director of the pharmacy department at Peking University People's Hospital. The manual specifies the selection criteria for NSAIDs drugs in six major scenarios, including joint pain and postoperative inflammatory pain - celecoxib is preferred for gastrointestinal sensitive patients, and diclofenac should be avoided for cardiovascular disease patients.
The guide simultaneously releases the "Grading Management Table for Inflammatory Pain Disorders", which divides pain into three levels: mild, moderate, and severe, corresponding to a tiered approach of "lifestyle intervention+local medication", "oral medication+physical therapy", and "biological agents+neural regulation". At present, the guide has been distributed to the public for free through 200 hospitals nationwide, with over 5 million electronic clicks.
Medical research and enterprise linkage accelerates technology transformation, domestic equipment breaks import monopoly
At the 2025 China Pain Medicine Conference, the "Ice Extreme Pain Control Device" released by Meijingling Medical has attracted attention. This domestically produced neural regulation device interferes with pain signals through low-frequency pulses, with an effective rate of 85% for postherpetic neuralgia, and its price is only 60% of similar imported products. The intelligent analgesia algorithm developed by us in collaboration with Tsinghua University can automatically adjust parameters based on the patient's pain waveform, "said the company's R&D director. The device has been clinically applied in 30 tertiary hospitals.
The collaboration between industry, academia, and research in innovation is driving industrial upgrading. The "Inflammatory Pain Translational Medicine Platform" jointly established by Shanghai Jiao Tong University and a pharmaceutical company has recently successfully developed an oral formulation of curcumin nanoparticles, which has a bioavailability 10 times higher than traditional formulations and is expected to enter clinical trials next year. According to data from the National Medical Products Administration, the approval volume of innovative medical devices in the field of inflammatory pain in the first half of this year increased by 72% year-on-year.
China has over 120 million patients with chronic inflammatory pain, and the standardized management rate is less than 30%, "said Liu Yanqing, chairman of the Pain Branch of the Chinese Medical Association. With the popularization of biologics, the implementation of guidelines, and the upgrading of domestic equipment, it is expected that the control rate of refractory inflammatory pain will increase from 45% to 65% in the next three years, allowing more patients to get rid of pain troubles.