Different surgical approaches to treat chronic tophaceous gout in the hand: our experience.

Chronic tophaceous gout is a disabling erosive arthritis characterized by an elevated serum urate concentration, recurrent attacks of arthritis, and deposits of monosodium urate crystals in synovial fluids. Tophi, ulcerations of the overlying skin, and fissures of the interarticular cartilage may occur in advanced stages, combined with deformities of the joints and decreased active joint flexion and extension. Although the timely use of allopurinol is associated with a decrease in the frequency of deposits of the tophaceous substance, however, surgical management is necessary to restore and improve the cosmesis and joint function, to alleviate symptomatic discomfort, and to reduce the risk of infection when the overlying skin becomes ulcerated. The authors present their experience in the surgical management of the chronic tophaceous gout in the hand.