Ten recommended recommendations for gout diagnosis and management

  Ten recommended recommendations for the diagnosis and management of gout: 1. To establish a diagnosis of gout, sodium urate crystals should be identified; when this is not possible, the diagnosis of gout can also be supported by the presence of typical clinical manifestations (e.g., foot gout, gout stones, rapid response to colchicine therapy) and/or characteristic imaging findings in patients.  2. For patients with gout and/or hyperuricemia, testing of their renal function and assessment of their cardiovascular risk factors are recommended.  3. Use low-dose colchicine (maximum dose of 2 mg/d), non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID) and/or glucocorticoids (intra-articular, oral or intramuscular) for the treatment of acute gout, depending on comorbidities and risk of adverse effects.  4. Patients are advised to adopt a healthy lifestyle, including weight loss, regular exercise, smoking cessation, and avoidance of heavy alcohol and sugary drinks.  5. Allopurinol should be the first-line uric acid-lowering therapy; when allopurinol is not available, alternative options are uric acid excretory drugs (e.g., benzbromarone, probenecid) or febuxostat; uricase monotherapy may be considered only if the patient has severe gout and other medications have failed or are contraindicated. Uric acid-lowering therapy (except uricase) should be started at a low dose and gradually increased to achieve the serum uric acid target.  6. When treating with uric acid-lowering drugs, patients must be educated about the risk and management of gout relapse; colchicine (maximum dose of 1.2 mg/d) may be considered for relapse prevention, and NSAID or low-dose glucocorticoids may be considered if use is contraindicated or not tolerated. The duration of prophylactic treatment depends on the individual patient.  7. For patients with mild to moderate renal impairment, allopurinol can be used under close monitoring, starting with a low dose (50-100 mg) and gradually increasing the dose to achieve the target serum uric acid; febuxostat and benzbromarone can be used as alternative therapeutic agents without dose adjustment.  8. The target goals of treatment are serum uric acid below 0.36 mmol/lL (6 mg/L), absence of gout attacks and gout stone dissolution; monitor serum uric acid level, number of gout attacks and gout stone size.  9. Gout stones should be treated by continuous reduction of serum uric acid levels [preferably below 0.30 mmol/L (5 mg/L)]; surgical treatment should be performed only in selected cases (e.g. nerve compression, infection, etc.).  10. For asymptomatic hyperuricemia, pharmacological treatment is not recommended to prevent gouty arthritis, nephropathy or cardiovascular events.