Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS)

Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) is a chronic (lasting greater than six months) pain condition that most often affects one limb (arm, leg, hand, or foot). CRPS is believed to be caused by damage to, or malfunction of, the peripheral and central nervous systems. CRPS is divided into two types: CRPS-I and CRPS-II. Individuals without a confirmed nerve injury are classified as having CRPS-I (previously known as reflex sympathetic dystrophy syndrome). CRPS-II (previously known as causalgia) is when there is an associated, confirmed nerve injury. CRPS symptoms vary in severity and duration, although some cases are mild and eventually go away. In more severe cases, individuals may not recover and may have long-term disability. Although …show more content…
The International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) criteria established in 1994 do not include any technical tests, simply because there is no test that has been proven to diagnose this syndrome. There are, however, tools that help practitioners document their clinical findings of autonomic, sensory, and motor function and dysfunction, but they cannot be used to validate a diagnosis of CRPS, and often are not covered by insurance. Possible tests used to rule out other conditions such as arthritis, Lyme disease, generalized muscle diseases, a clotted vein, or small fiber polyneuropathies are: Blood Tests- Imaging Techniques Radiographs- Bone Scans -Bone Density Tests- MRI, Fmri, PET, And SPECT-Skin Temperature Measurement -Infrared Thermometry, Laser Doppler Flowmetry, And Infrared Thermography -Sudomotor Function Tests Resting Sweat Output (RSO) And Thermoregulatory Sweat Test (TST)- Quantitative Sudomotor Axon Reflex Test (QSART)-Neurophysiological Tests -Nerve Conduction Velocity (NCV) -Somatosensory Evoked Potentials (SSEP)- Quantitative Sensory Testing (QST) - Sympathetic Nerve