Diagnosing Gout: Practice Review

A 64-year-old woman limps into your practice. Her presenting complaint: a severely painful, swollen left ankle; onset two days ago with no known precipitating trauma or injury. What do you do?

The prevalence of gout in Australia is reported to be up to 6.8%, but this number continues to rise across developed nations in the Oceania region. This common form of inflammatory arthritis has the potential to impact on your patients’ quality of life and is associated with a number of comorbidities, including hypertension, insulin resistance, and renal failure, making it imperative for GPs to be confident in the diagnosis and management of this condition.

After completing this eLearning module, you will be able to:

• Identify and differentiate gout from other conditions including pseudogout, septic arthritis, and rheumatoid arthritis

• Understand the role of joint aspiration and other imaging modalities in the diagnosis and ongoing management of gout

• Develop a management approach for gout including initiation of urate-lowering therapy (ULT) using a treat-to-target approach

• Implement strategies to promote adherence to ULT

Developed using the latest evidence-based research and updated clinical guidelines for the management of gout, this course is accredited for reviewing performance and education activities CPD. Take advantage of this self-paced online module and get yourself up to date.

This is a Medcast Continuing Medical Education (CME) course.