We present a revised taxonomic system for disorders previously called reflex sympathetic dystrophy (RSD) and causalgia. The system resulted from a special consensus conference that was convened on this topic and is based upon the patient's history, presenting symptoms, and findings at the time of diagnosis. The disorders are grouped under the umbrella term CRPS: complex regional pain syndrome. This overall term, CRPS, requires the presence of regional pain and sensory changes following a noxious event. Further, the pain is associated with findings such as abnormal skin color, temperature change, abnormal sudomotor activity, or edema. The combination of these findings exceeds their expected magnitude in response to known physical damage during and following the inciting event. Two types of CRPS have been recognized: type I, corresponds to RSD and occurs without a definable nerve lesion, and type II, formerly called causalgia refers to cases where a definable nerve lesion is present. The term sympathetically maintained pain (SMP) was also evaluated and considered to be a variable phenomenon associated with a variety of disorders, including CRPS types I and II. These revised categories have been included in the 2nd edition of the IASP Classification of Chronic Pain Syndromes.
A case is presented of a 17-year-old with leukemia, pneumonia and chest-wall pain. Inadequate treatment of the patient's pain led to behavioral changes similar to those seen with idiopathic opioid psychologic dependence (addiction). The term pseudoaddiction is introduced to describe the iatrogenic syndrome of abnormal behavior developing as a direct consequence of inadequate pain management. The natural history of pseudoaddiction includes progression through 3 characteristic phases including: (1) inadequate prescription of analgesics to meet the primary pain stimulus, (2) escalation of analgesic demands by the patient associated with behavioral changes to convince others of the pain's severity, and (3) a crisis of mistrust between the patient and the health care team. Treatment strategies include establishing trust between the patient and the health care team and providing appropriate and timely analgesics to control the patient's level of pain.
The development and consistent use of reliable and valid PROs and performance-based measures of physical functioning may expedite development of improved pain treatments, and standardization of these measures has the potential to facilitate comparison across studies. We provide recommendations to stimulate future methodological research to develop tools that are more robust, address consistency and standardization, and engage patients early in the tool development process.
Assessment of Function4
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