Doctors rarely turn to surgery for gout. People who have this painful form of arthritis take non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) or corticosteroids to deal with agonizing gout attacks. Otherwise, doctors urge gout patients to eat a balanced diet, exercise, and lose weight as the best means of treatment. “With my patients, I’m always trying to give them lists of the good foods that prevent gout and the bad foods that promote gout,” says Edward McDevitt, MD, a partner and orthopedic surgeon with Bay Area Orthopaedics in Annapolis, Md. “Most of the time, people with gout can be treated without surgery.” Surgery for Gout: When Tophi Form However, there are circumstances under which surgery for gout should be considered. Surgery most often is used to remove gritty, chalklike nodules called tophi — a single one is called a tophus — … Read entire article »