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After limb trauma, patients sometimes develop complex regional pain syndromes (CRPS), but symptoms are highly diverse, including either elevated or depressed skin temperature. To understand clinical differences between “warm” and “cold” CRPS, researchers recruited 25 patients with each syndrome; the two groups had no significant differences in age, sex, affected limb, duration, and proportions with and without peripheral-nerve lesions. The investigators obtained medical histories and neurologic evaluations for all patients and used quantitative sensory testing to evaluate large- and small-fiber function.
More patients with cold CRPS than with warm CRPS had histories of chronic pain disorders and serious life events preceding the illness. The…