ABSTRACT
Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (RSD) or Complex Regional Pain Syndome Type-I (CRPS-I), a disease of unknown prevalance, complicates any minor trauma, stroke, myocardial infection, colle’s fracture, peripheral nerve injury and in one-fourth of cases without any precipitant factor. An awareness of RSD and the injuries, illnesses and drugs that can provoke it is the first step to learn for an early treatment and better outcome. Here we present a neglected case of RSD following minor trauma who presented to us after 6-7 months of onset of disease. Delay in treatment resulted in partial recovery of the patient.
ABSTRACT
Five patients in the acute stage of reflex sympathetic dystrophy (RSD) of the hand were treated with Sairei-to and Rikkunshi-to, and were evaluated for pain (visual analog scale: VAS), swelling and limitation of finger motion. Four of the five patients had good results, with a decrease in pain to less than 50% of initial pain on VAS within six weeks. Swelling and finger motion tended to improve earlier than pain. In general, symptoms of RSD are limited to those associated with local inflammation during the acute stage, but patients with RSD tend to have psychological factors that can trigger generalized complaints even before the onset of RSD and to feature ‘kikyo, ’ a loss of vitality, after RSD onset. RSD should therefore be recognized as one feature of a generalized disease. Oral Kampo therapy using Sairei-to and Rikkunshi-to appears to be a reasonable treatment for early RSD.