Functional Imaging in Complex-Regional Pain Syndromes

Complex-regional pain syndromes (CRPS) are distressing neuropathic pain syndromes, mainly resulting from injury at the extremities. The clinical triad comprises sensory, motor and autonomic disturbances. Pain and hyperalgesia are hallmarks of this syndrome. Patterns of sensory and motor symptoms may indicate that the pathophysiology of CRPS is not only limited to the affected limb, but also includes changes in the central nervous system (CNS). Therefore, we employed functional imaging techniques in CRPS patients in order to explore potential CNS changes in more detail. In a first study we investigated the somato…