RSD or CRPS? ... or Causalgia? ... or CRPS Type 2?

Today's PMG blog entry is a two minute reminder of the terminology used to categorize a debilitating pain condition treated by the fellowship-trained physicians of The Pain Management Group.

The term Complex Regional Pain Syndrome was coined by a panel of experts in the field at a consensus meeting held in Orlando, FL in 1993 for a condition formerly referred to as Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy or as Causalgia. Each of the "elder" terms attempted to describe the complex of signs and symptoms associated with a disease that is still largely a mystery. Thought to be a derangement (dystrophy) of the sympathetic nervous system, the disease is now broken into two subtypes. We categorize a patient's syndrome as CRPS Type I if we know not of a specific injury to a particular nerve. We categorize the syndrome as CRPS Type II if in fact we feel as though we can implicate a direct injury to a peripheral nerve as the cause of the subsequent pain.

Though an overtly simplistic explanation, we hope you'll keep in mind that our professional staff is always available for consultations regarding this and many other complex chronic pain issues.