What is Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) / Reflex sympathetic pain syndrome (RSD)?
Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS), formerly known as RSD (Reflex sympathetic pain syndrome) and also known as causalgia, is a chronic pain condition that is believed to be the result of dysfunction in the central or peripheral nervous systems and often follows an injury. RSD/CRPS is a multi-symptom, multi-system, syndrome usually affecting one or more extremities, but may affect virtually any part of the body. Although it was clearly described 125 years ago by Drs. Mitchell, Moorehouse and Keen, RSD/CRPS remains poorly understood and is often unrecognized. The best way to describe RSD/CRPS is in terms of an injury to a nerve or soft tissue (e.g. broken bone) that does not follow the normal healing path. The development of RSD/CRPS does not appear to depend on the magnitude of the injury (e.g. a sliver in the finger can trigger the disease). In fact, the injury may be so slight that the patient may not recall ever having received an injury. For reasons we do not understand, the symp