We report a 58-year-old woman with no history of gout who subsequently developed gouty tophi around retained suture material identified 12 ½ years after repair of a ruptured Achilles tendon. The patient had intermittently developed an apparent postsurgical infection at and around the incision site. She had normal uric acid levels.
The diagnosis of gout was not confirmed until surgical exploration was performed 12 ½ years after the initial surgery. Awareness of such a rare incidence of surgical site gout would help clinicians in their management decisions.