ABSTRACT

Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) is an invalidating chronic condition that can occur after an acute peripheral lesion. Prism adaptation therapy is regarded as a promising tool to improve chronic pain in this syndrome but the mechanisms which lead to pain amelioration remain unknown. In this exploratory report we performed a retrospective analysis of longitudinal data collected from a single, atypical patient, who showed hyper-attention toward her affected (left) hand. Repeated assessments of pain and spatial neglect made during the course of the prism adaptation treatment revealed differential contributions of the two hands to adaptation-induced pain reduction. Treatment response appeared to be associated with a relative modification of the spatial behaviour of the two hands. This case study provides a new example of pain relief following prismatic deviation away from the pathological side.

摘要

复杂区域疼痛综合征 (CRPS) 是一种无效的慢性疾病，可在急性外周病变后发生。棱镜适应疗法被认为是改善该综合征慢性疼痛的有前途的工具，但导致疼痛改善的机制仍然未知。在这份探索性报告中，我们对从一名非典型患者收集的纵向数据进行了回顾性分析，该患者对受影响的（左）手表现出高度关注。在棱镜适应治疗过程中对疼痛和空间忽视的重复评估揭示了两只手对适应引起的疼痛减轻的不同贡献。治疗反应似乎与两只手的空间行为的相对改变有关。