Surgery

Gout can usually be successfully treated by eliminating causes and taking medicines to relieve symptoms. But if gout symptoms have occurred off and on without treatment for more than 10 years, uric acid crystals may have built up in the joints to form gritty, chalklike nodules called tophi. If tophi are causing infection, pain, pressure, and deformed joints, and medicines have been unsuccessful in shrinking or eliminating the tophi, your doctor may recommend surgery (excision) to remove them.