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This retrospective observational study aims to describe the use and analyze the effectiveness of various analgesic interventions in patients diagnosed with Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) at the Pain Management Center of Hôpital Maisonneuve-Rosemont (HMR) between January 2020 and October 2025.
Background:
Complex Regional Pain Syndrome is a chronic pain condition characterized by severe, persistent pain accompanied by sensory, vasomotor, sudomotor, and motor/trophic changes, often following trauma or surgery. Despite established diagnostic criteria (Budapest criteria), its pathophysiology remains poorly understood, and evidence-based treatments are limited. While multidisciplinary functional rehabilitation remains the cornerstone of management, various analgesic interventions are used to facilitate recovery when medications fail to adequately control pain.
Common interventions include:
Although all these techniques are used in clinical practice, their relative efficacy and predictive factors for success remain unknown. Clinicians rely on experience rather than data-driven guidance to select an initial intervention. Identifying factors such as CRPS subtype or symptom duration that predict analgesic response could improve treatment efficiency and functional recovery.
Objectives:
Primary objective: To determine the frequency distribution of first-line analgesic interventions used in patients with CRPS treated at HMR's Pain Management Center.
Secondary objectives:
Methods:
This is a retrospective chart review including all adult patients with a CRPS diagnosis established using the Budapest criteria who received at least one eligible analgesic intervention during the study period. Data will be extracted from electronic medical records by the research team. Exclusion criteria include incomplete clinical documentation or missing information regarding the first consultation, intervention type, or analgesic outcome.
Collected variables include demographics, medications, CNESST (workers' compensation) status, PTSD diagnosis, trauma type, CRPS characteristics (affected limb, type, subtype, symptom duration), details of the first intervention (technique, dose, use of adjuvants), analgesic response, and adverse effects.
Full description
STUDY MODEL Retrospective observational study in the form of a chart review. STUDIED POPULATION AND PERIOD Patients followed at the Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital Pain Management Center (PMC) for complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) who received at least one analgesic intervention between January 1, 2020 and October 2025.
This period was chosen to obtain a sufficient number of patients and to best reflect current practice.
INCLUSION CRITERIA
• Patients with a diagnosis of complex regional pain syndrome as determined by the Budapest criteria and who received at least one of the following analgesic interventions: Intravenous ketamine infusion; Plexus block (infraclavicular, interscalene, axillary, popliteal sciatic) with or without adjuvant; Sympathetic block (stellate or lumbar); Intravenous pamidronate infusion. EXCLUSION CRITERIA
Patients whose first consultation at the PMC is not digitized. Indeed, the process of digitizing handwritten clinical notes prior to the implementation of the electronic medical record (2017) is ongoing. Clinical notes prior to this date are therefore not always accessible in the computer system.
Patients for whom the following data are incomplete or undocumented in the chart:
Secondary To determine the success rate of each intervention when used as first-line therapy. The success rate will be defined by the documentation of significant pain reduction that allowed improved function following the intervention.
To determine the proportion of patients who reported a significant adverse event between the day of the procedure and the first post-procedure follow-up visit for each intervention (pain increase, severe pain at puncture site, hematoma, infection, nausea/vomiting, nightmares, general malaise).
To determine the success rate of each analgesic intervention according to the clinical subtype of CRPS.
To determine the success rate of each analgesic intervention according to the duration of symptoms at the time of the first analgesic intervention (<12 months, 12-18 months, >18 months).
To determine the number of ineffective interventions received by each patient before achieving significant analgesia.
SAMPLE SIZE A sample size calculation will not be performed for this study. The PMC is a tertiary pain clinic that treats a large number of patients, and it is estimated that the chosen period will yield a sample of approximately 200 patients.
GENERAL PROCEDURE Data will be collected from digitized records in the Clinibase and Oacis clinical applications.
An initial sampling of charts will be performed in Clinibase by the planning, programming, and research department of the CIUSSS de l'Est-de-l'Île-de-Montréal. A search of the Clinibase database using the type of appointment at the Pain Management Center between January 1, 2020, and October 23, 2025, will provide the chart numbers of potentially eligible patients. The appointment types searched will include: block, ketamine infusion, pamidronate, stellate block, and lumbar sympathetic block.
Each chart will then be reviewed in Oacis to locate the first consultation note at the Pain Management Center in order to verify inclusion criteria-specifically, a diagnosis of complex regional pain syndrome as determined by the Budapest criteria. The use of an eligible analgesic intervention (plexus block, pamidronate infusion, ketamine infusion, stellate or lumbar sympathetic block) for the treatment of CRPS pain will be confirmed. The analgesic technique does not necessarily need to have been performed at the first visit to be eligible. Charts meeting the inclusion criteria will be retained for the research project and analyzed in more detail to collect the required data.
DATA COLLECTION
Patient data:
Demographic data
Association of the chart with a worker's compensation agency (CNESST in Quebec) (yes/no) (This information will be collected because affiliation with a workers' compensation program is an independent factor for poorer response to analgesic interventions. It is therefore a confounding factor for the primary endpoint-intervention success) (Clin J Pain 1995;11:94-102);
Patient's medication (SSRI antidepressants (yes/no), tricyclic antidepressants (yes/no), gabapentinoids (yes/no), NSAIDs (yes/no), opioids (yes/no))
Initial trauma (fracture, sprain, surgery, stroke, other);
Post-traumatic stress disorder (yes/no). This variable will be collected for the same reason as CNESST affiliation. A PTSD diagnosis significantly affects pain intensity and treatment response, particularly if inadequately addressed (J Pain Res 2018;11:527-36).
CRPS data:
Upper or lower limb involvement;
Left or right;
Duration of symptoms at the time of first analgesic intervention (measured from the initiating event) (<12 months, 12-18 months, >18 months);
Symptoms reported by the patient:
Signs observed by the physician:
CRPS category (type I, type II, ROS, NOS)
CRPS subtype, as determined by the main symptom reported at the first consultation:
First intervention performed:
Plexus block
Sympathetic block
Ketamine infusion
Pamidronate infusion o Dose (mg)
Follow-up visit data:
Data from other follow-up visits:
To better compare the different techniques, a propensity score approach will be used. The probability of receiving each treatment will be calculated based on the following characteristics: age, sex, symptom duration, limb type, CNESST affiliation, medications used, treating physician, and CRPS subgroup. These probabilities will be calculated using multinomial logistic regression and will define the propensity scores. Each patient's characteristics will be weighted using the Inverse Probability of Treatment Weighting (IPTW) method. After weighting, group balance will be verified by ensuring that standardized mean differences (SMD) for each covariate are below 0.1. Finally, the weighted success rate for each technique will be calculated. Weighted Odds Ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals will also be computed using weighted logistic regression for each treatment compared to the reference treatment. Sensitivity analyses will be performed using other weighting methods such as Overlap Weighting, 1:1 Matching, and Entropy Balancing.
To identify the best treatment for each subgroup, the probability of success as a function of treatment, subgroup, and a "treatment × subgroup" interaction term will be calculated using logistic regression. If the interaction term is significantly associated with the probability of success, stratified analyses will be conducted by subgroup. For each subgroup, a propensity score will be calculated using the same method described above, excluding the subgroup variable from adjustment. Weighted success probabilities will be calculated for each treatment and each subgroup, as well as ORs with 95% CIs compared to the reference treatment, to identify the optimal treatment for each subgroup.
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Inclusion criteria
Exclusion criteria
200 participants in 1 patient group
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Central trial contact
Nadia Godin, RN; Dre Veronique Brulotte, Medical Doctor
Data sourced from clinicaltrials.gov
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