PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Babak K. Kashy
AU  - Alaa A. Abd-Elsayed
AU  - Ehab Farag
AU  - Maria Yared
AU  - Roya Vakili
AU  - Wael Ali Sakr Esa
TI  - Amputation as an Unusual Treatment for Therapy-Resistant Complex Regional Pain Syndrome, Type 1
AID  - 10.1043/TOJ-14-0074
DP  - 2015 Dec 21
TA  - Ochsner Journal
PG  - 441--442
VI  - 15
IP  - 4
4099  - http://www.ochsnerjournal.org/content/15/4/441.short
4100  - http://www.ochsnerjournal.org/content/15/4/441.full
SO  - Ochsner J2015 Dec 21; 15
AB  - Background Complex regional pain syndrome, type 1 (CRPS-1) causes severe pain that can be resistant to multiple treatment modalities. Amputation as a form of long-term treatment for therapy-resistant CRPS-1 is controversial.Case Report We report the case of a 38-year-old man who failed all treatment modalities for CRPS-1, including medication, steroid injections, and spinal cord stimulator implantation. Below-the-knee amputation to relieve intractable foot and ankle pain resulted in a favorable outcome for this patient.Conclusion Select patients with severe CRPS-1 who are unresponsive to all forms of treatment for pain may benefit from amputation as a last option for relief of suffering. Larger studies are needed to prove the efficacy of amputation.