CLASSIFICATION OF COMPLEX REGIONAL PAIN SYNDROMES - NEW CONCEPTS

This article summarizes the revised taxonomic system for pain disorder s previously termed reflex sympathetic dystrophy (RSD) and causalgia. Since the consensus committee meeting in 1993, the disorders have been grouped under the umbrella term complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) . Two types of CRPS have been recognized: type I, corresponding to RSD and occurring without a discrete nerve lesion; and type II, correspon ding to causalgia and occurring in the presence of a discrete nerve le sion. Sympathetically maintained pain (SMP) has been evaluated and con sidered to be a variable and independent phenomenon associated with a variety of disorders, including CRPS types I and II.