Gout Guidelines Give Good Grades

Correct gout diagnosis and differentiation of the disease from other inflammatory arthritic conditions is important because treatments differ, says the American College of Physicians (ACP). Accordingly, the ACP just released new evidence-based clinical practice guidelines to help improve gout diagnosis and management.The guidelines are based on systematic evidence reviews sponsored by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and conducted by RAND’s Southern California Evidence-based Practice Center. They grade the evidence and recommendations with the ACP system, based on the GRADE (Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation) method. The guidelines were published in the November 1 issue of Annals of Internal Medicine.Scroll through the slides above for highlights. For more information, links to the ACP guidelines are below: Diagnosis of Acute Gout: A Clinical Practice Guideline From the American College of PhysiciansManagement of Acute and Recurrent Gout: A Clinical Practice Guideline From the American College of Physicians