Complex Regional Pain Syndromes (Posttraumatic Pain Syndromes: Causalgia and Mimocausalgia)

Posttraumatic pain syndromes, most often called reflex sympathetic dystrophy or causalgia, remain one of the most poorly understood and frequently misdiagnosed entities encountered in clinical practice. These painful syndromes can develop following irritation or damage to peripheral nerves in a variety of settings, and in the susceptible patient the initiating event may be relatively insignificant, even obscure. The associated vascular signs of these syndromes often convince the referring physician that he or she is dealing primarily with a painful vascular condition.