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The Natural History of Complex Regional Pain Syndrome
Journal article   Peer reviewed

The Natural History of Complex Regional Pain Syndrome

Robert J. Schwartzman, Kirsten L. Erwin and Guillermo M. Alexander
The Clinical journal of pain, v 25(4), pp 273-280
01 May 2009
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1097/AJP.0b013e31818ecea5
PMID: 19590474
Featured in Collection :   UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel

Abstract

Anesthesiology Clinical Neurology Life Sciences & Biomedicine Neurosciences & Neurology Science & Technology
Objective: Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) is a severe chronic pain condition characterized by sensory, autonomic, motor, and dystrophic signs and symptoms. This study was undertaken to expand our current knowledge of the evolution of CRPS signs and symptoms with duration of disease. Method: This was a retrospective, cross-sectional analysis using data extracted from a patient questionnaire to evaluate the clinical characteristics of CRPS at different time points of disease progression. Data from the questionnaire included pain characteristics and associated symptoms. It also included autonomic, motor, and dystrophic symptoms and also initiating events, ameliorating and aggravating factors, quality of life, work status, comorbid conditions, pattern of pain. spread, family history, and demographics. Comparisons were made of different parameters as they varied with disease duration. Results: A total of 656 patients with CRPS of at least 1-year duration were evaluated. The average age of all participants was 37.5 years, with disease duration varying from 1 to 46 years. The majority of participants were white (96%). A total of 80.3% were females. None of the patients in this study demonstrated spontaneous remission of their symptoms. The pain in these patients was refractory showing only modest improvement with most current therapies. Discussion: This study shows that although CRPS is a progressive disease, after 1 year, the majority of the signs and symptoms were well developed and although many variables worsen over the course of the illness, the majority demonstrated only moderate increases with disease duration.

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127 citations in Web of Science
161 citations in Scopus

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#3 Good Health and Well-Being

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Web of Science research areas
Anesthesiology
Clinical Neurology
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