Chemical synoviorthesis with rifampicin in haemophilia

Rifampicin is an antibiotic that has been currently used for the treatment of noninfectious articular lesions with satisfactory results. The first exp erience was performed with patients who presented rheumatoid arthritis, and later with haemophilic patients. The clinical experience of three haemophi lia centres which used rifampicin for the treatment of chronic haemophilic synovitis is presented here. The protocols were different. It was observed that rifampicin is more effective when it is used in small joints (elbows a nd ankles), than when used in bigger ones (knees), and that a high number o f injections predicts failure. Mention is also made of experimental studies in animals where it was shown that the healing pattern of rifampicin is si milar to that of NSAIDs.