Acute gouty arthritis

Injury	Disease	Nutrition	Poison

Symptoms	Surgery	Test	Special Topic

Uric acid crystals

Overview

Symptoms

Treatment

Prevention

Acute gouty arthritis

Alternative Names:

Gouty arthritis - acute; Gout - acute

Symptoms:

Joint pain
- Begins suddenly
- Affects one or more joints (hip pain, knee pain, ankle pain, foot pain, shoulder pain, elbow pain, wrist pain, hand pain, or pain in other joints)
- The great toe, knee, or ankle joints are most often affected
Joint swelling of the affected joints
Stiffness of the joint
The joint may be warm and red
Fever may be present
Skin lump which may drain chalky material

Signs and tests:

A physical examination of the joints shows acute arthritis.

Synovial fluid analysis shows uric acid crystals.
Uric acid (blood test) may be elevated.
Joint X-rays may be normal.

The following tests might also be helpful:

Review Date: 4/20/2005
Reviewed By: Stanford Peng, M.D, Ph.D., Division of Rheumatology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network.

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