Gout Treatment and Goals for Treating Hyperuricemia

Gout is a treatable condition. Successful treatment aims to reduce both the discomfort caused by the symptoms of the acute flare of gout and long-term damage to the affected joints. Understanding the treatment goals for gout is vital to comprehensive care for your patients.

What works well for one person may not work as well for another. Decisions about when to start treatment and what drugs to use should be tailored to each individual patient and depend on the underlying causes of hyperuricemia, such as renal function, diet, and drugs.

Regardless of pharmaceutical treatment decisions, physicians should recommend lifestyle modifications such as gradual weight reduction, dietary modifications, and a reduction of alcohol consumption as appropriate.

The Treatment Goals for Gout

Terminate the acute flare as rapidly as possible. Because acute gout can be extraordinarily painful, symptomatic treatment should be initiated rapidly and decisively at the onset of an attack.
Protect against further attacks. Prophylactic treatment in between flares (the intercritical period) may help prevent further attacks but may not prevent further joint damage.
Correct hyperuricemia. Long-term treatment of hyperuricemia addresses the underlying cause of gout, helps prevent disease progression, and may reverse urate deposition. However, initiation of urate-lowering therapy may precipitate a gout flare, due to changes in the serum urate concentration, which should be treated with appropriate prophylactic/acute treatment.

The first two goals, treating and preventing acute attacks, are vital to your patient’s immediate concerns. However, it is the third goal—correcting hyperuricemia—that ultimately can determine the course of the disease.