From Morbus Sudeck to complex regional pain syndrome

Burning pain and autonomic disorders, such as change of skin color, hyperhidrosis, edema and stiffness in joints of extremities were first described in 1864 by Silas W. Mitchell. The German expression "Morbus Sudeck" takes its name from the surgeon Paul Sudeck from Hamburg who described spotty decalcification in x-rays in 1900. In the Anglo-Saxon world, the theory that the sympathetic nervous system was involved in the generation and sustention of these alterations was based on the observations of the French surgeon Ren, Leriche and in 1846 James A. Evans introduced the expression sympathetic reflex dystrophy. As doubts arose that the sympathetic nervous system could not be the sole culprit, the descriptive phrase of complex regional pain syndrome was introduced to substitute for more than 60 synonyms focusing on the fact that the disease develops after minor trauma or nerve lesions and does not correlate with the severity of the trauma. Diagnosing this syndrome is still hampered by the fact that no specific laboratory or radiological marker has yet been identified. Multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches to therapy seem to be inevitable. Since Sudeck first described the disease, 110 years have passed. The underlying hypothesis and theories as well as the development during this time period are summarized.