COPAGO

Project lead: Prof. Chenot /  Dr. Julia Truthmann

Project researcher: Dr. Adrian Richter, Julia Freyer Martins Pereira

Cooperation: Prof. Eva Hummers (Göttingen), Prof. Ildikó Gagyor (Würzburg)

Currently, it is unclear what therapy is most effective for the treatment of acute gout attacks. This study aims to compare the effectiveness and side effects of 2 licensed medications, prednisolone and colchicine, in GP care and to improve recommendations for the safe and effective treatment of acute gout attacks in a GP setting. For this purpose, 314 patients, who present themselves within one day of developing an acute gout attack, are included in the study. Roughly 60 GP practices in the Greifswald, Göttingen and Würzburg area are taking part.

The diagnosis of an acute gout attack is made clinically. This includes severe pain, swelling, tenderness and warmth of the affected joint. Even patients with concomitant diseases can participate in the study. Exclusion criteria are, e.g.: inability to give informed consent, contraindications to taking the study medication, pregnancy and breastfeeding. This study is double-blinded, i.e. patients are randomly assigned to a treatment group that neither they nor the doctor know of. The intervention group is treated with 30 mg prednisolone for five days each. Patients in the control group are treated with low-dose colchicine. On the first day, the patients receive 1.5 mg colchicine and from the second to the fifth day, 1.0 mg colchicine each. Both drugs are approved for acute gout treatment.

During the study, the patients are receiving a patient diary in which they document pain, swelling and sensitivity of the affected joint as well as any side effects that occur on a daily basis. After one week, the patients receive a final examination and return their diaries and the remaining packaging of the study medication back to the practice. Patients can decide whether they want to take part an optional  dual-energy CT. This will take place within two weeks of study inclusion and will be used to determine the monosodium urate crystal volume in the joint as an indicator of disease burden.

For more information, click here.

You can watch the information video about the study here.

Sponsored by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research.

https://www.gesundheitsforschung-bmbf.de/de/copago-randomisierte-kontrollierte-studie-zur-behandlung-des-akuten-gichtanfalls-mit-13995.php