Objective

 

: To determine if treatment of longstanding complex regional pain syndrome type 1, focusing on functional improvement only while neglecting pain, results in clinical improvement of this syndrome.

 

Design

 

: Prospective description of a case series of 106 patients.

 

Setting

 

: Outpatient clinic for rehabilitation.

 

Interventions

 

: Physical therapy of the affected limb directed at a functional improvement only while neglecting the pain, was performed following an extensive explanation. Normal use of the limb between the treatments was encouraged

despite pain. A maximum of five of these sessions were performed in three months.

 

Measures

 

: Radboud Skills Test was used to monitor functional improvement of the arms. Speed and walking distance was used as the measure of outcome for the legs.

 

Results

 

: The function of the affected arm or leg improved in 95 patients. Full functional recovery was experienced in 49 (46%) of them. A reduction in pain presented in 75 patients. In 23 patients functional recovery was reached despite an increase in pain. Four patients stopped early due to pain increase.

 

Conclusions

 

: Our results suggest that ‘pain exposure physical therapy’ is effective and safe for patients who are unresponsive to accepted standard therapies. Avoiding the use of a limb due to pain will result in loss of function. Forced usage of limbs restores the function, reverses these adaptive processes and leads to

regain of control by practice with a reduction of pain in most cases.