Use of a Medication Quantification Scale for Comparison of Pain Medication Usage in Patients with Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS)

ObjectiveTo correlate the amount and types of pain medications prescribed to CRPS patients, using the Medication Quantification Scale, and patients' subjective pain levels. DesignAn international, multisite, retrospective review. SettingUniversity medical centers in the United States, Israel, Germany, and the Netherlands. Subjects/MethodsA total of 89 subjects were enrolled from four different countries: 27 from the United States, 20 Germany, 18 Netherlands, and 24 Israel. The main outcome measures used were the Medication Quantification Scale III and numerical analog pain scale. ResultsThere was no statistically significant correlation noted between the medication quantification scale and the visual analog scale for any site except for a moderate positive correlation at German sites. The medication quantification scale mean differences between the United States and Germany, the Netherlands, and Israel were 9.793 (P<0.002), 10.389 (P<0.001), and 4.984 (P=0.303), respectively. ConclusionsThere appears to be only a weak correlation between amount of pain medication prescribed and patients' reported subjective pain intensity within this limited patient population. The Medication Quantification Scale is a viable tool for the analysis of pharmaceutical treatment of CRPS patients and would be useful in further prospective studies of pain medication prescription practices in the CRPS population worldwide.