...Robert J. Barth, PhD A sidebar titled “Rating Impairment for [complex regional pain syndrome] CRPS Type 1” in the March/April issue of The Guides Newsletter states: “Do NOT use the pain chapter to rate CRPS” because there is no well-defined pathophysiologic basis. That conclusion is contradicted...

...Steven D. Feinberg, MD; Charles N. Brooks, MD; Christopher R. Brigham, MD Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) is characterized by chronic spontaneous and/or evoked regional pain disproportionate in severity, distribution, and/or duration to that typically experienced after a similar injury...

...Robert J. Barth, PhD Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) is a controversial, ambiguous, unreliable, and unvalidated concept that, for these very reasons, has been justifiably ignored in the “AMA Guides Library” that includes the AMA Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment ( AMA Guides...

...Robert J. Barth, PHD; Robert Haralson, III, MD, MBA Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) is a controversial, ambiguous, and often unreliable concept that presents significant clinical and rating challenges, to the extent that, for any individual case, many of the differential diagnostic issues...

... include using the diagnosis-based approach for more than one diagnosis within a region, and incorrectly assessing gait abnormalities, motion loss, nerve injuries, and complex regional pain syndrome. Rigorous adherence to the AMA Guides methodology and recognition of common IR errors can prevent...

... of motion loss, nerve injuries, entrapment disorders, and complex regional pain syndrome. This article is modified with permission from the authors of the same article published in the Fall 2021 issue of the AdMIRable Review Journal. © 2022 American Medical Association. All Rights Reserved...

... focused history-taking, including information about activities of daily living and a functional assessment tool. The criteria for diagnosis of complex regional pain syndrome have been updated for consistency with current standards and other chapters. Among other modifications, the approach to entrapment...

..., Fourth Edition, the International Association for the Study of Pain has proposed a new term, complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) that replaces RDS and causalgia. Dissenting views suggest that the criteria for RDS are vague or that patients with RSD are not a homogeneous population. Evaluators should...

...Leon H. Ensalada, MD, MPH In the AMA Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment ( AMA Guides ), Fifth Edition, the methods for rating impairment to causalgia, reflex sympathetic dystrophy (RSD), and complex regional pain syndromes (CRPS) differ from the approaches found in previous editions...

..., and report standards. Upper extremity and lower extremity impairment evaluations are discussed in terms of clinical assessments and rating processes, analyzing important changes between editions and problematic areas (eg, complex regional pain syndrome). © 2004 American Medical Association. All Rights...

...Leon H. Ensalada, MD, FAADEP, CIME Part II of this two-part series continues the discussion of diagnostic and treatment issues related to reflex sympathetic dystrophy (RSD) and presents approaches to assessing pain and disability associated with complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS). CRPS...

... in rating neurologic disorders; the extensive list of conditions that should be addressed in other chapters includes but is not limited to radiculopathy, plexus injuries and other plexopathies, focal neuropathy, complex regional pain syndrome, visual and vestibular disorders, and a range of primary mood...

... of the right hip. In Figure 17-1c, the limb of the goniometer overlying the left femur should instead be parallel to the tabletop. Additional sections of the article discuss joint ankylosis; peripheral nerve injuries; causalgia, complex regional pain syndrome, and reflex sympathetic dystrophy. A careful...

... © 2004 American Medical Association. All Rights Reserved. 2004 American Medical Association Question In assessing a rating for complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) of the lower extremity, must an individual meet the criteria established on Table 16-16 utilized when rating...

... chart, Guide to the Appropriate Combination of Evaluation Methods (Table 17-2), indicates which methods can and cannot be appropriately used in combination. The evaluation of causalgia and complex regional pain syndrome now follows the same principles used to evaluate central nervous system lesions...

... syndrome, type II (similar to the former concept of causalgia), also are rated in these sections. Nerve entrapments, which are not isolated traumatic events, are rated using the methodology in Section 15.4f, Entrapment Neuropathy. Type I complex regional pain syndrome is rated using Section 15.5, Complex...

... appreciate your opinion so that I can complete the review of this impairment report. Answer There is no similar statement in Chapter 16, The Upper Extremities. Since complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS I) does not follow the distribution of a specific peripheral nerve, the involvement may...

...Robert J. Barth, PhD, FNAN; Tom W. Bohr, MD, FAAN From the previous issue, this article continues a discussion of the potentially confusing aspects of the diagnostic formulation for complex regional pain syndrome type 1 (CRPS-1) proposed by the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP...

... entrapment syndromes, complex regional pain syndrome, and psychiatric disease. The evaluator must determine if the symptoms, physical findings, and diagnostic study results support the diagnosis; the report should list the rating options considered, discuss the rationale for selecting the method(s) used...

... the same as in the Fourth Edition. Among important changes in the Fifth Edition regarding rating peripheral nerve impairment are: grading sensory deficits, rating entrapment neuropathies, and evaluating complex regional pain syndrome. The most noteworthy changes in assessing impairment due to other...