Diagnosis and Treatment of Gout and Pseudogout for Everyday Practice

Abstract

Gout and pseudogout are crystalline arthropathies commonly seen in primary care. It is important to understand their pathophysiology to facilitate recognition and appropriate treatment. Prompt gouty arthritis treatment relieves short-term suffering. Long-term treatment with urate-lowering therapy prevents recurrent attacks and is generally well-tolerated though flare risk is increased during treatment initiation. When anti-inflammatory medications are prescribed, the flare risk is low. Pseudogout acute treatment is similar to acute gouty arthritis treatment. There is no standard regimen for long-term chronic therapies of pseudogout. This article enhances the recognition and treatment of these diseases in the primary care setting.

Keywords: Arthritis; Calcium pyrophosphate deposition disease; Crystalline arthropathy; Gout; Monoarthritis; Polyarthritis; Pseudogout; Urate-lowering therapy.