Editor-in-Chief: Alaa Abd-Elsayed, MD, PhD
Abstract
- 2022;3;111-113 Complex Regional Pain Syndrome of Childhood and Asthma in 2 Teenagers Presenting with Chest Pain
Case Report
Lindsay M. Milliken, MD, Amy E. Miloszewski, DPT, and Mohammed Jawaad Hussain, MD.
BACKGROUND: Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) is a chronic pain syndrome characterized by sensory, motor, autonomic, bone, and skin changes. The onset of CRPS is most typically preceded by a traumatic event. Asthma is a chronic respiratory condition in which bronchial hyperresponsiveness and inflammation of pulmonary airways lead to symptoms of reversible lower airway obstruction, which may lead to musculoskeletal pain.
CASE REPORT: Patient 1 is a teenage girl with poorly controlled asthma presenting with CRPS localized to her chest, upper abdomen, and upper back. Patient 2 is a teenage girl with well-controlled asthma but with a significant historical asthma exacerbation presenting with CRPS in her chest and upper back.
CONCLUSION: We suggest that a respiratory illness and associated asthma exacerbation served as the traumatic event for these patients’ CRPS presentations.
KEY WORDS: Complex regional pain syndrome, amplified musculoskeletal pain syndrome, asthma, pediatrics, rehabilitation