Favorable Outcome of an Acute Complex Regional Pain Syndrome With Immunoglobulin Infusions

Abstract

To emphasize that complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS), a disabling disorder with the implication of aberrant inflammation, vasomotor dysfunction, and maladaptive neuroplasticity, might be treated with a high dose of intravenous immunoglobulin infusions (IVIG). We describe a patient who presented with CRPS in the acute phase of the disease. The CRPS developed secondary to sciatic compression in a young patient and was treated within 10 days by high-dose IVIG (2 g/kg). It resolved completely within days after infusions. This observational study emphasizes that high-dose IVIG may be a treatment option in the acute phase of CRPS.