Diagnosis

Doctors usually diagnose gout based on your symptoms and the appearance of the affected joint. Tests to help diagnose gout may include:

• Joint fluid test. Your doctor may use a needle to draw fluid from your affected joint. Urate crystals may be visible when the fluid is examined under a microscope.
• Blood test. Your doctor may recommend a blood test to measure the levels of uric acid in your blood. Blood test results can be misleading, though. Some people have high uric acid levels, but never experience gout. And some people have signs and symptoms of gout, but don't have unusual levels of uric acid in their blood.
• X-ray imaging. Joint X-rays can be helpful to rule out other causes of joint inflammation.
• Ultrasound. This test uses sound waves to detect urate crystals in joints or in tophi.
• Dual-energy computerized tomography (DECT). This test combines X-ray images taken from many different angles to visualize urate crystals in joints.