Other publications by CRPS Network members 2019-2020
Many of our Network members are experienced researchers in the field of CRPS and chronic pain. Not all of their publications are directly related to Registry studies, but are still very relevant to our work. A key selection are listed below.
Abstracts (overviews) of all research papers can be accessed using the following links, but please note that some will require an active subscription to the relevant journal in order to access the full publication.
Book on Self-Management (written by Professor Karen Rodham) - due for publication in 2020 ............
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Autoantibodies produce pain in complex regional pain syndrome by sensitizing nociceptors - published in PAIN, December 2019. Nociceptors are sensory neurons that respond to damaging stimuli by sending "possible threat" signals to the spinal cord and the brain. Results of this animal study showed that painful hypersensitivity in persistent CRPS is maintained by autoantibodies, which act by sensitizing A and C nociceptors.
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Sensory function and pain experience in arthritis, complex regional pain syndrome, fibromyalgia syndrome and pain-free volunteers: a cross-sectional study - published in The Clinical Journal of Pain, November 2019. This study aimed to identify relationships between sensory function and pain in three common pain conditions.
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Arthritis pain management: a holistic approach - published in Rheumatology, August 2019. Earlier this year, EULAR published recommendations for pain management in patients with inflammatory arthritis and osteoarthritis. Why are such recommendations needed? What are the recommendations? What is their likely impact?
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Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) in orthopaedics: an overview - published in Orthopaedics and Trauma, August 2019. This paper provides an overview of the latest understanding of CRPS and national guidelines, explains how to make a diagnosis, describes initial treatment and controversies in orthopaedic care, and explores the implications of CRPS to the orthopaedic team.
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Body perception disturbance and pain reduction in longstanding complex regional pain syndrome following a multidisciplinary rehabilitation program - published in Pain Medicine, August 2019. Clinical guidelines for the treatment of CRPS recommend multidisciplinary rehabilitation, yet limited evidence exists to support the effectiveness of this approach. Body perception disturbance, a common and debilitating feature of CRPS, is recommended by guidelines as important to treat. However, no study has yet explored whether disturbances change in response to multidisciplinary rehabilitation. This study aimed to determine whether there is a change in body perception disturbance and pain following a two-week multidisciplinary rehabilitation programme for CRPS.
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Complex Regional Pain Syndrome: An international survey of clinical practice - published in the European Journal of Pain, August 2019. Published guidelines promote best practice in the treatment and management of CRPS; however, these recommendations are not always applied in clinical practice. An e‐survey was conducted in order to gain an insight into routine CRPS clinical practice. This will help to inform future patient and health professional service delivery, education initiatives and content of clinical guidelines.
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Experimentally induced pain does not influence updating of peripersonal space and body representations following tool-use - published in PLoS One journal, May 2019. Representations of the body and peripersonal space can be distorted for people with some chronic pain conditions. It is unclear whether induced pain disrupts the mechanisms involved in updating these representations. This study compared performance of tasks under pain, active placebo and neutral conditions.
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Standards for the diagnosis and management of Complex Regional Pain Syndrome: Results of a European Pain Federation task force - published in the European Journal of Pain, April 2019. The European Pain Federation task force present 17 standards of the diagnosis and management of CRPS for use in Europe. These are considered achievable for most countries and aspirational for a minority of countries depending on their healthcare resource and structures.
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Maintained physical activity and physiotherapy in the management of distal upper limb pain - a randomised controlled trial - published in RMD Open (Rheumatic and Musculoskeletal Diseases), March 2019. The epidemiology of distal arm pain and back pain are similar. However, management differs considerably: for back pain, rest is discouraged, whereas patients with distal arm pain are commonly advised to rest and referred to physiotherapy. We hypothesised that remaining active would reduce long-term disability and that fast-track physiotherapy would be superior to physiotherapy after time on a waiting list. Among patients awaiting physiotherapy for distal arm pain, advice to remain active results in better 26-week functional outcome, compared with advice to rest. Also, immediate physiotherapy confers no additional benefit in terms of disability, compared with physiotherapy delivered after 6–8 weeks waiting time. These findings question current guidance for the management of distal arm pain.
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Exploring the relationships between alterations of body image, sense of limb position and sense of limb movement in complex regional pain syndrome - published in The Journal of Pain (American Pain Society), January 2019. The objectives of this study were to assess body perception and the senses of limb position and limb movement in CRPS, and to test whether these variables are related to each other and to pain intensity. From a clinical perspective, these data suggest that these two body representations should be evaluated separately in CRPS, and that interventions aimed at improving body image will not necessarily impact body schema and vice versa. However, more reliable assessment methods of body image in CRPS are needed.
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