"It is imperative that everyone associated with sports understand the signs, symptoms, and potential risks of CRPS/RSD, especially before recommending surgery. If you suspect that one of the athletes you are treating has already developed it, make sure they are directed to the appropriate treatment. Awareness is our best defense in the war against the disability of pain caused by CRPS/RSD," says Jim Broatch, executive director, The Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy Syndrome Association (RSDSA).
RSDSA has just published a brochure, CRPS/RSD and Sports Injuries: Prevention is the Name of the Game, to educate those involved in athletics about the potential risk of developing CRPS/RSD, a neurological syndrome characterized by severe and relentless pain associated with autonomic changes, such as abnormal skin color and temperature, sweating, or swelling in the affected part. Left untreated, the syndrome can be disabling. Although the syndrome can develop after any trauma, researchers are finding that CRPS/RSD has developed following common orthopedic surgical procedures, such as arthroscopic knee surgery, wrist fractures, total knee arthroplasty, ankle fractures, carpal tunnel surgery, and Dupuytren's surgery.
The number of cases of CRPS/RSD could be reduced by using preemptive regional anesthesia, according to research conducted by Scott Reuben, MD, Professor of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Tufts University School of Medicine. His studies suggest that preemptive regional anesthesia, such as a stellate ganglion block, intravenous regional block, and epidural block, may help decrease the recurrence of post operative CRPS/RSD.
Free copies of the brochure are available from RSDSA by calling toll-free 877-662-7737 or sending an e-mail to [email protected].