Chronic tophaceous gout. A case report.

A review of gout is presented, followed by a discussion of the current medical literature on diagnosis, differential diagnosis, staging, and treatment. Chronic tophaceous gout is not as prevalent as it once was because of early diagnosis and treatment, but it is still encountered in the podiatric practice. A severe case of chronic tophaceous gout is presented. The patient was successfully treated by surgical intervention. Although surgery may be avoided in most cases, it is indicated when intractable pain, loss of motion, and massive joint destruction are present.