Surgery
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, chalky nodules called
. 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.