Podiatry Coding & Billing Alert

Brush up on your gout details and apply the new codes accurately with these definitions:

• Gouty arthropathy: This disease affects middleaged to elderly men and postmenopausal women and is associated with hyperuricemia (elevated uric acid levels). The disease is due to the deposition of urate crystals in the joints as well as other organs (for example, the kidneys).

• Acute gout: This is the initial early clinical manifestations of gouty arthropathy often described as severe joint pain and swelling.

• Chronic gout: This is the recurring form of gout involving one or several joints occasionally associated with the presence of tophaceous deposits.

• Tophus (tophi): These are deposits of urate crystals in the skin surrounding the joints. This can be seen as elevated lesions on the joint area.