Complex regional pain syndrome 1: a condition of the mind or in the body?

Complex regional pain syndrome type 1 in a pediatric patient: Case report

Complex regional pain syndrome type 1 is one of the causes of morbidity of childhood which is also named reflex symphathetic dystrophia. The syndrome is characterized with regional pain and vasomotor, sudomotor and sensory changes in the distal parts of the extremities involved. Complex regional pain syndrome type 1 shows difference in children in terms of clinical picture and imaging methods compared to adults. The most important point is that the prognosis is generally better in children if early diagnosis and treatment is provided. On the other hand, causes including presence of psychological factors or less contribution of imaging methods in children lead to delayed diagnosis or erroneous diagnosis. In this article, a 10 year-old male patient who was diagnosed with complex regional pain syndrome type 1 was described. Thus, we aimed to remind clinicians that this syndrome should also be kept in mind in the differential diagnosis of pain in children.

Rethinking the psychogenic model of complex regional pain syndrome: somatoform disorders and complex regional pain syndrome

ABSTRACT

Explaining the etiology of Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) from the psychogenic model is exceedingly unsophisticated, because neurocognitive deficits, neuroanatomical abnormalities, and distortions in cognitive mapping are features of CRPS pathology. More importantly, many people who have developed CRPS have no history of mental illness. The psychogenic model offers comfort to physicians and mental health practitioners (MHPs) who have difficulty understanding pain maintained by newly uncovered neuro inflammatory processes. With increased education about CRPS through a biopsychosocial perspective, both physicians and MHPs can better diagnose, treat, and manage CRPS symptomatology.