Complex Region Pain Syndrome Following Shoulder Surgery.

PURPOSE: To describe the clinical features, treatment, and outcomes in patients with complex region pain syndrome (CRPS) following shoulder surgeries.

METHODS: Three patients were diagnosed with CRPS according to the Budapest criteria. Patients were followed up prospectively at regular intervals for a minimum of 2 years. Demographic data, clinical symptoms, physical examination findings, treatment received, and outcomes were collected and reported.

RESULTS: The minimum time interval between surgery and diagnosis was 3 weeks (average, 8 weeks). The index procedures included 2 arthroscopic rotator cuff repairs and 1 open Latarjet. Neurologic pain, muscle spasms, hand and wrist swelling, and joint stiffness were seen in the shoulder, wrist, and hand, but the elbow was spared in all patients. Despite the use of multimodal treatment modalities, the symptoms were refractory to treatment for prolonged periods (range, 6-12 months). Hand and wrist symptoms took an average of 4 months longer than shoulder symptoms to improve. At the latest follow-up (range, 24-26 months), varying degrees of residual hand dysfunction, pain, and inability to make a fist or fully extend the fingers were noted in all 3 patients.

CONCLUSIONS: CPRS type 1 following shoulder surgery is a disabling condition with a long-protracted clinical course. CRPS can present as early as few weeks after shoulder surgery, with symptoms of neuropathic pain, spasm, and stiffness affecting the entire upper-extremity joints except the elbow. CRPS symptoms resolve earlier in the shoulder compared with the wrist and hand, with pain improving first, followed by recovery of motion and function. Residual stiffness affecting grip function is last to recover and can present up to 2 years after onset of symptoms. Although prompt recognition and multimodal approach are considered the mainstay of treatment, there is no gold standard treatment modality that can reproducibly alter the natural history of CRPS.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: IV, therapeutic case series.