Could physicians use regional anesthesia, continuous peripheral nerve blocks, for peoples who have complex regional pain syndrome?
Yes. It is a technique we use at WRAMC to provide patients with a ‘pain free interval.’ We believe this temporary adjustment in the afferent pain input from the affected CRPS area allows the brain to ‘reset,’ often resulting in improvement in symptoms when the block is resolved. Currently, this treatment is purely investigational and has not been formally studies to my knowledge. Again, it is a treatment option we employ at WRAMC. Q: What about using it for other neuropathic pain syndromes? Regional anesthesia blocks for a variety of chronic pain syndromes are common in chronic pain practice. Though I practice chronic pain medicine, my specialty is acute pain and perioperative medicine. Chronic pain is a clinical, outpatient activity while acute pain is an inpatient hospital activity. We have a close working relationship with chronic pain but our focus is different. Q: Could this be used as a preventative measure, to keep acute pain from becoming chronic pain? We know that uncontrolled
