IC17 Management of Gout Flashcards
What is gout?
Gout is a type of inflammatory arthritis that causes pain and swelling in your joints.
Gout flares often begin in your big toe or a lower limb.
What causes gout?
Gout is caused by:
1. Imbalances in purine metabolism
2. Purine is broken down into uric acid
3. Uric acid then precipitates out as uric acid crystals
4. Deposition of urate crystals in the articular & periarticular tissues (aka tophi)
What are the 5 risk factors of gout?
- Diet
- Obesity
- Male
- Genetics
- Kidney disease
What are the 2 main targets for pharmacotherapy management in gout?
- Xanthine oxidase
- Increasing uric acid excretion
What can cause hyperuricaemia?
- Overproduction of uric acid
- Under-excretion of uric acid
If pt has hyperuricaemia, but show no S&S, there is no need to treat.
What are the clinical presentations of gout?
- Redness
- Warmth
- Swelling & tenderness
- Often presents at the big toe
- Attack often occurs in the early morning after waking up
What is the criteria to diagnose a pt w gout?
We diagnose a pt w gout via testing of:
- Synovial fluid
- Tissue sections of tophaceous deposits
If urate crystals are present in the synovial fluid, we diagnose a pt with gout.
What would synovial fluid look like with and without urate crystals?
Without urate crystals, synovial fluid is:
- Colourless & translucent
- <200 WBCs/mm^3
- No crystals present
With urate crystals, synovial fluid is:
- Yellow & cloudy
- 2000-50,000 WBCs/mm^3
- Crystals present
What are the 5 treatment goals for gout?
- Provide rapid, SAFE, & effective pain relief
- Reduce future attacks
- Prevent joint destruction & tophi formation
- Increase QoL
- Address associated comorbidities
What is considered hyperuricaemia in men & women?
Men: Plasma uric acid >7mg/dL
Women: Plasma uric acid >6mg/dL
How to manage acute gout flares?
Treat pt w:
- Colchicine (within 24hrs) - 1st line
- Oral NSAIDs
- Oral glucocorticoids
If pt is already on Urate Lowering Therapy (ULT), continue ULT during flare.
What are the 2 ways to give colchicine for acute gout flares?
[DIFFERENT FROM PROPHYLAXIS TREATMENT]
- One-off treatment
- 1mg loading dose + 0.5mg 1hr later - Continuous treatment
- 0.5mg 2-3 times a day, until acute flares resolves
How is colchicine given for prophylaxis treatment?
Colchicine 0.5mg OD* for 3-6 months
Note that Colchicine is given OD and not 2-3 times daily as compared to acute treatment.
What are the ADRs of colchicine?
- N&V
- Diarrhoea
ADRs increase w higher dose or long term use.
Colchicine can be discontinued after gout attacks are gone.
What should we avoid if there is an acute gout flare?
We should avoid using ULT - (allopurinol, febuxostat & probenecid) in acute flare attacks.
Reason: They can cause mobilisation or uric acid. We should wait 2-4 weeks after the acute gout flare before giving ULT.