Australian hospitals 'failing people with gout'
A case series shows the benefit of rheumatologist consultation
Many hospital patients diagnosed with gout are not being referred to the rheumatology department, leading to poorer outcomes on discharge, say WA specialists.
In a letter to the Internal Medicine Journal, the rheumatologists from the Fiona Stanley Hospital in Perth describe how the outcomes of patients with gout at their hospital depend on whether or not the patient has seen a specialist.
Examining the case records of 100 consecutive patients who had a diagnosis of gout on discharge, they