European League Against Rheumatism evidence-based recommendations for diagnosis and management of gout

Gout cannot be regarded a benign disease, as it is unfortunately often misunderstood. In view of the lack of recent evidence-based recommendations for the diagnosis and management of gout, the European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) decided to commission a task force to develop such recommendations. A literature search was performed to comprehensively assess the clinical and epidemiological aspects, diagnostic tools, as well as effectiveness of therapeutic measures and the overall management. Subsequently, consensus among the participating experts should be achieved by applying a Delphi process. As a result of this project 10 recommendations for diagnosis of gout as well as 12 recommendations with respect to the management of the disease could be elaborated. Gout can be regarded as a disease with excellent prognosis in the light of the diagnostic and therapeutic possibilities available. However, this only holds true if all these possibilities are applied in the appropriate manner in daily routine. It constituted the primary goal of the EULAR project to deliver a substantial contribution to improve routine care of affected patients.