Journal of clinical rheumatology : practical reports on rheumatic & musculoskeletal diseases
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Enthesitis is inflammation at the insertion of ligaments, tendons, joint capsule, or fascia to bone, and a well-known characteristic feature of ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and related spondyloarthropathies. The clinical evaluation of enthesitis is an important outcome measure and is scored by applying pressure on entheses to elicit tenderness at these sites. ⋯ Our results indicate that algometric evaluation of entheses does not add extra information to clinical relevance of MASES, and grading with digital palpation is a more convenient, practical, and reliable examination method for the assessment of enthesitis.