Pediatric CRPS: Navigating Diagnosis and Treatment Challenges - A Clinical Case Study

Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) is a poorly understood  disorder characterized by chronic pain and, often involves debilitating episodes of hyperalgesia and allodynia. CRPS was previously categorized as “reflex sympathetic dystrophy”, “causalgia”, “algoneurodystrophy”, or “Sudeck atrophy”. More recently, two distinctive categories have been defined: CRPS Type I and CRPS Type II. CRPS Type 1 is defined as pain occurring in the absence of known nerve injury, and CRPS Type II is defined as pain secondary to a confirmed nerve injury. To further add to the compelling nature of this disease, the pathophysiology has not been fully elucidated. It is believed to be secondary to an abnormal tissue response to injury as well as increased sensitization and autonomicdysregulation of the sympathetic nervous system. Given the rarity of this condition and the subjective nature of the diagnosis, the incidence of CRPS in the pediatric population  is not known. CRPS Type 1 is believed to be more common in female patients with a mean age of 13. The purpose of this case report is to further investigate CRPS Type 1, as diagnosed by Budapest criteria and clinical correlation