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Acute gouty arthritis

• Overview
• Symptoms
• Treatment
• Prevention

Alternative Names:

Gouty arthritis - acute; Gout - acute

Symptoms:

Symptoms develop suddenly and usually involve only one or a few joints. The big toe, knee, or ankle joints are most often affected.

The pain frequently starts during the night and is often described as throbbing, crushing, or excruciating. The joint appears infected with signs of warmth, redness, and tenderness.

The attacks of painful joints may go away in several days, but may return from time to time. Additional attacks usually last long. Some people may progress to chronic gouty arthritis, while others may have no further attacks.

Specific symptoms include:

• Fever (sometimes)
• Joint pain
• Joint swelling of the affected joints
• Join stiffness
• Joint redness
• Skin lump which may drain chalky material

Signs and tests:

Tests that may be done include:

• Blood differential
• Joint x-rays (may be normal)
• Synovial biopsy
• Synovial fluid analysis (shows uric acid crystals)
• Uric acid- blood
• Uric acid - urine

• Review Date: 4/26/2007
• Reviewed By: Steve Lee, DO, Rheumatology Fellow, Loma Linda University Medical Center, Loma Linda, CA. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network.

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