Abstract
In order to discuss the clinical presentation of the disorder Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (RSD), a definition of the term is necessary.
The term was first used by Evans in 1946 (5), with reappearance over the next few years in a series of articles in the surgical literature. It was further popularized in the pain literature by Bonica (1), and came to indicate a spectrum of previously distinct syndromes. They have in common, regional pain, vasomotor and integumentary findings of varying severity, up to and including causalgia, a distinct entity following nerve injury. RSD has been defined by the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) as: Continuous pain in a portion of an extremity after trauma which may include fracture but does not involve a major nerve, and is associated with sympathetic hyperactivity (14). Although causalgia is left as a separate syndrome, this is arguable since the symptomatology and clinical presentations of the conditions overlap, as do their treatments, and possibly also their pathophysiology.
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© 1990 Kluwer Academic Publishers
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Butler, S.H. (1990). Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy: Clinical Features. In: Stanton-Hicks, M., Jänig, W., Boas, R.A. (eds) Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy. Current Management of Pain, vol 7. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-0685-6_1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-0685-6_1
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