Different duration of Colchicine for preventing recurrence of Gouty arthritis

Gout is a common recurrent clinical syndrome characterized by increased serum uric acid and recurrentattacks of acute arthritis . colchicine is used for prophylaxis against recurrence of arthritis, but the duration of itsadministration has mentioned variable. in this study, optimal duration of prophylactic colchicine for prevention of goutyarthritis was assessed.methods: in a clinical trial 190 patients with gouty arthriti s divided randomly to group 1,2and 3 and received colchicinefor 3 to 6, 7 to 9 and 10 to 12 months then colchicine discontinued and the patients followed one year for reeurrence ofarthritis . result assessed by surviv al analysis with kaplan -meier method.results: the probability of recurrence of arthritis (in order of duration of colchicine prophylaxis) was 54%, 27.5% and23%, respectively. the difference between group one and others was statistically significant, but between group 2 and 3 wasnot statistically significant.conclusion: the most suitable duration of colehieine prophylaxis that accompanied with lower recurrence rate was 7-9months, which seems more cost -effective than 10-12 months regimen .