Complex Regional Pain Syndrome: A Quantitative Review of Current Treatments

Abstract

Introduction Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) is a disease that causes intense pain mainly in the upper and lower limbs of the patients, impairing the quality of life of those affected by the syndrome. Its pathophysiology has not yet been fully discovered and described. Also, treatments need to advance in the search for pain relief in those affected by the disease. The present article aims to describe the pathophysiology of CRPS and, mainly, to quantitatively analyze the efficiency of new treatments against pain caused by the disease.

Methods Several articles on clinical trials described in a table were included in the present study, and a systematic review of the effectiveness of current treatments was performed.

Results A total of 29 articles from clinical trials were selected using the preselection criteria. Surgical treatments against CRPS had a 56.9% efficiency in reducing painful sensation, and conservative treatments against CRPS had a 40.82% efficiency in reducing pain sensation.

Conclusion Complex regional pain syndrome is a disease that causes pain in patients and worsens the quality of life of those affected by it. The treatments are diverse, and their efficiencies vary from bad to excellent.

Resumo

Introdução A síndrome dolorosa regional complexa (SDRC) é uma doença que causa dor intensa principalmente nos membros superiores e inferiores dos pacientes, prejudicando a qualidade de vida dos afetados pela síndrome. Sua fisiopatologia ainda não foi completamente descoberta e descrita. Ademais, tratamentos precisam avançar na busca do alívio da dor naqueles afetados pela doença. O objetivo do presente artigo é descrever a fisiopatologia da SDRC e, principalmente, analisar quantitativamente a eficiência dos novos tratamentos contra a dor causada pela doença.

Métodos Foram incluídos no presente estudo diversos artigos sobre ensaios clínicos descritos em uma tabela e foi feita uma revisão sistemática sobre a eficiência dos tratamentos atuais.

Resultados Foram selecionados 29 artigos de ensaios clínicos por meio do critério de pré-seleção. Tratamentos cirúrgicos contra a SDRC tiveram uma eficiência de 56,9% na redução da sensação dolorosa e os tratamentos conservadores contra a SDRC tiveram uma eficiência de 40,82% na redução da sensação dolorosa.

Conclusão A SDRC é uma doença que causa dor nos pacientes e piora da qualidade de vida dos afetados por ela. Os tratamentos são diversos e suas eficiências variam de ruim a excelente.

Keywords

complex regional pain syndromes - neurosurgery - therapeutics - pathology

Palavras-chave

síndrome da dor regional complexa - neurocirurgia - terapêutica - patologia

Ethics Approval and Consent to Participate

The National Health Council of Brazil, by resolution 466/2012, exempts this type of study from the research ethics committee, since it is a transversal study and all data is available on the internet free of charge and anonymously.

The present work was developed at the Faculdade de Medicina do ABC, Santo André, SP, Brazil.

Publication History

Received: 13 October 2020

Accepted: 20 December 2021

Article published online:
20 April 2022

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