The efficacy of current treatment options for Complex Regional Pain Syndrome

• Main Author: Gorda, Shawn
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2015
• Subjects: Medicine
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/2144/13166

Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRSP) is a neuropathic disorder that has proven to be particularly difficult to treat based on the wide array of symptoms experienced by patients and the ambiguity surrounding their origin. The vast majority of treatment options today deal with the management of pain symptoms experienced by patients as a result of neuroinflammation. Physical therapy is an instrumental aspect of the treatment plan; however the need for more effective pharmacological interventions is paramount. This study reviews a large volume of current and fundamental literature covering the plethora of treatment options currently used for CRPS. Data from double blind clinical trials as well as observational clinical results were gathered in hopes of illuminating the efficacy of each treatment. The goal was to assess current and future treatment options and determine what interventions are optimal for the management of CRPS. Furthermore, this review highlights some of the limitations of the current treatment options, in addition to providing a synopsis of CRPS as it is understood today. This paper paints a picture of where we have been in the treatment of CRPS, what is working, what is not working, and where we might go in the future.