Editor-in-Chief: Alaa Abd-Elsayed, MD, PhD
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BACKGROUND: Pain has different input mechanisms, a subsequent central processing and an appropriate output mechanism. Accordingly the pain history of a patient varies, and so should the surgical and rehabilitative management.
CASE REPORT: The case report is based on a 20-year-old woman who had a 3-year-old distal tibiofibular fusion surgery done post traumatic interosseous membrane injury with a conservative approach for other multiligamentous injury of the ankle joint mortise. Despite the initial surgery and rehabilitation, she had episodes of fall due to instability even thereafter. Due to a series of unsuccessful interventions over the years, she developed excessive muscle guarding and capsular stiffness in the ankle joint. Her pain persisted for 3 years and she eventually developed complex regional pain syndrome.
CONCLUSION: This case demonstrates the rehabilitation of a patient based on understanding of the appropriate pain pathways along with the structures involved. It also discusses the etiology of complex regional pain syndrome developed 3 years after her surgery.
KEY WORDS: Adhesive capsulitis, complex regional pain syndrome, multiligamentous injury, ankle joint