complex regional pain syndrome

noun

: a condition of chronic, severe, often burning pain usually of part or all of one or more extremities that typically occurs following an injury, that is often accompanied by swelling, skin discoloration, allodynia, abnormal sweating, and impaired motor function in the affected area, and that is of unknown pathogenesis

—abbreviation CRPS see causalgia, reflex sympathetic dystrophy

Examples of complex regional pain syndrome in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

On a 50-point scale, complex regional pain syndrome is said to register at about a 42, higher than pregnancy and double the pain of a toothache. —Karen Weintraub, USA TODAY, 1 July 2024

Nearly three months after the injury, Scipione was diagnosed with complex regional pain syndrome, court documents say. —Andrew J. Campa, Los Angeles Times, 23 May 2024

When Maya, who was diagnosed with a rare medical condition called complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS), was 10 years old in 2016, she was admitted to Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital (JHAC) in St. Petersburg for severe pain. —Audrey Conklin, Fox News, 10 Oct. 2023

Jack and Beata Kowalski's daughter, Maya, now 17, suffered from severe pains that the family was told were due to a rare neurological condition, complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS). —David K. Li, NBC News, 22 Sep. 2023

Word History

First Known Use

1995, in the meaning defined above

Medical Definition

complex regional pain syndrome

noun

: a condition of chronic severe often burning pain usually of part or all of one or more extremities that typically occurs following an injury, that is often accompanied by swelling, skin discoloration, allodynia, abnormal sweating, and impaired motor function in the affected area, and that is of unknown pathogenesis

—abbreviation CRPS see causalgia, reflex sympathetic dystrophy