PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Mandell, Brian F.
AU  - Schumacher, H. Ralph
AU  - Chen, Lan X.
TI  - The practical management of gout
DP  - 2008 Jul 01
TA  - Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine
PG  - S22--S25
VI  - 75
IP  - 7 suppl 5
4099  - http://www.ccjm.org/content/75/7_suppl_5/S22.short
4100  - http://www.ccjm.org/content/75/7_suppl_5/S22.full
SO  - Cleve Clin J Med2008 Jul 01; 75
AB  - Gout management requires a comprehensive strategy that considers both acute and chronic aspects of the disease. Acute gout flares should be treated with anti-inflammatory agents as rapidly as possible. The underlying hyperuricemia may be treated with urate-lowering agents initiated at a time appropriate for the individual patient. Successful urate lowering ultimately prevents flares and disease progression and should be started immediately in patients with advanced or tophaceous disease. When urate-lowering therapy is initiated, anti-inflammatory prophylaxis should be used to reduce the risk of flares induced by abrupt changes in urate levels. Regular monitoring of serum urate can ensure therapeutic dosing of urate-lowering agents to achieve levels below 6 mg/dL, which are associated with a reduction in flares and tophi.