Gout.

Background: Gout affects about 5% of men and 1% of women, with up to 80% of people experiencing a recurrent attack within 3 years.

Methods: We conducted a systematic review and aimed to answer the following clinical questions: What are the effects of treatments for acute gout? What are the effects of treatments to prevent gout in people with prior acute episodes? We searched: Medline, Embase, The Cochrane Library, and other important databases up to September 2010 (Clinical Evidence reviews are updated periodically; please check our website for the most up-to-date version of this review). We included harms alerts from relevant organisations such as the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).

Results: We found 16 systematic reviews, RCTs, or observational studies that met our inclusion criteria. We performed a GRADE evaluation of the quality of evidence for interventions.

Conclusions: In this systematic review, we present information relating to the effectiveness and safety of the following interventions: colchicine, corticosteroids, corticotropin (ACTH), non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), sulfinpyrazone, xanthine oxidase inhibitors, advice to lose weight, advice to reduce alcohol intake, and advice to reduce dietary intake of purines.