Turkish Journal of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation 2011 , Vol 57 , Num 4

Complex Regional Pain Syndrome of the Lower Extremity in a Patient with Hemiplegia: A Case Report

Burcu Önder 1 ,Barın Selçuk 2 ,Aydan Kurtaran 3 ,Murat Ersöz 3 ,Müfit Akyüz 3
1 Çorlu Devlet Hastanesi, Fiziksel Tıp ve Rehabilitasyon Bölümü, Tekirdağ, Türkiye
2 Kocaeli Üniversitesi Tıp Fakültesi, Fiziksel Tıp ve Rehabilitasyon Anabilim Dalı, Kocaeli, Türkiye
3 Ankara Fizik Tedavi ve Rehabilitasyon Eğitim ve Araştırma Hastanesi, Ankara, Türkiye
4 Ankara Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Training and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey
DOI : 10.4274/tftr.74936

Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) type 1 is characterised by burning pain in the extremities, restriction in range of motion, vasomotor and trophic changes. This syndrome may be encountered after stroke in the upper extremity as much as in 20% of patients, but lower extremity involvement is rare. Herein, we present a 60-year-old female patient with left-sided hemiplegia who developed CPRS type 1 in her left lower extremity. The treatment of the patient involved Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS), calcitonin and gabapentin which yielded decrease in pain. Lower extremity CRPS is extremely rare in adult patients, however, pain in the lower extremity should be considered in its differential diagnosis.

Keywords : Complex regional pain syndrome, stroke, lower extremity