As of: March 13, 2024, 2:23 p.m
By: Jasmina Deshmeh
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In Sudeck's disease, healed injuries do not stop hurting.
Multi-stage therapy can prevent the symptoms from becoming chronic.
Pain is usually a warning signal from the body that something is wrong.
In complex regional pain syndrome (Sudeck's disease), those affected experience severe pain in their arms or legs without any apparent cause.
The phenomenon usually occurs after an operation, an injury or an accident.
The pain then does not subside as expected, but often worsens.
However, there are treatment options that can prevent the symptoms from becoming chronic.
Sudeck's disease: This is how the syndrome manifests itself
In complex regional pain syndrome, those affected have persistent pain after an injury or operation without there being an organic cause (symbolic image).
© BSIP/Imago
Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) is a pain disorder whose cause is still not fully known.
It can affect people of any age, but occurs most frequently between the ages of 40 and 70, with women being affected significantly more often than men, as the
German Pain Society
informs.
The syndrome occurs in around two to five percent of all leg or arm injuries (e.g. broken bones), and the symptoms are varied:
Persistent pain
Symptoms that indicate inflammation (e.g. swelling)
Changed skin color and temperature
Restrictions in mobility (joints can no longer be stretched, a fist can no longer be clenched)
Reduced strength
Sensitivity disorders (feeling of numbness)
Perceptual disturbances (feeling that the area no longer belongs to the body)
In some cases: altered hair and nail growth
Not every symptom occurs in every patient.
In addition, external influences such as touch, cold and heat can change the pain.
It is not yet known exactly how the symptoms arise.
A possible cause could be a neurogenic inflammatory reaction, as the
Apotheker Umschau
writes.
Inflammatory messengers are first released at the injured area, a normal reaction of the body to an injury.
In CRPS, however, this inflammatory reaction is particularly strong and lasts an unusually long time.
Over time, these messenger substances are then released centrally, which can lead to changes in the central processing of pain.
Sudeck's disease: This is how the pain can be treated
To make a diagnosis, other diseases that can cause similar symptoms must first be ruled out.
These include soft tissue infections, circulatory disorders and thrombosis or nerve damage as well as bone fractures that have not completely healed and bone inflammation.
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If the diagnosis of Sudeck's disease has been made, anti-inflammatory therapy is initially carried out, for example with cortisone or bisphosphonates.
Anti-inflammatory painkillers and co-analgesics (usually antiepileptics or antidepressants) are usually used to relieve the pain.
Physiotherapy and occupational therapy, in which strength and mobility are improved, as well as mirror therapy are particularly important.
The patient is positioned so that he can see the “healthy” counterpart of the affected part of the body (e.g. arm) in the mirror and carry out movement instructions.
The brain perceives this movement and registers it as if it had been carried out by the healthy arm without pain.
The background is that in CRPS, areas of the brain that supply the affected area become smaller.
These brain regions are stimulated through mirror therapy.
Prognosis: Can the pain go away again?
Anyone affected by CRPS needs patience.
Whether the disease will regress completely can only be estimated based on current knowledge and also depends on when therapy was started, how the syndrome was treated and whether those affected are stressed.
Experts currently assume that just over half of all patients can be completely cured.
Some patients remain with minor restrictions on movement and function.
But you can learn to control the pain.
Fortunately, severe cases, including the “unusability” of the relevant limb, only affect very few patients.
This article only contains general information on the respective health topic and is therefore not intended for self-diagnosis, treatment or medication. It in no way replaces a visit to the doctor. Our editorial team is not allowed to answer individual questions about medical conditions.