Signs and Symptoms in 1043 Patients with Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS)

5 years ago

Signs and Symptoms in 1043 Patients with Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS)

Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) is a complex pain disorder that can emerge after limb trauma or a lesion in the peripheral nervous system. Typical features include continuing pain, sensory, vasomotor, sudomotor, motor and trophic changes as well as edema. These signs provide the basis of CRPS diagnosis. A detailed description of the signs, symptoms and medical history of CRPS could potentially facilitate an earlier and more accurate diagnosis. The aim of this study is to provide such a description, based on epidemiological measures, clinical presentation and a thorough description of pain sensations. Some signs (e.g., differences of skin temperature >1°C), which have been thought to be crucial for diagnosis, were less common than assumed. We identified 11 distinct etiological triggers, which cover more than 99% of the study participants. We developed a weighted score based on the most decisive data, which achieved a sensitivity of 0.869 and a specificity of 0.829, compared to 0.819 and 0.679 for the Budapest criteria. The weighted diagnostic criteria may help to better aid in distinguishing CRPS from other pain disorders.

Perspective

: This article provides a retrospective epidemiological analysis of 1043 CRPS patients in comparison to 421 patients with other pain disorders. The findings could potentially result in a more reliable and earlier diagnosis of CRPS, a better differentiation from other pain disorders, and ultimately in a more targeted and effective therapy.

Publisher URL: www.sciencedirect.com/science

DOI: S1526590018300282