CASE REPORT article
Front. Musculoskelet. Disord.
Sec. Musculoskeletal Diagnostic Imaging Techniques
Volume 3 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmscd.2025.1656285
This article is part of the Research TopicCase Reports in Anesthesiology 2025View all articles
Painless Complex Regional Pain Syndrome: A Paradoxical Case Report
Provisionally accepted
- 1N.V. Sklifosovsky Research Institute for Emergency Medicine, Moscow, Russia
- 2Pirogov Russian National Research Medical University (Pirogov Medical University), Moscow, Russia
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
Objective: We present a case of a condition that is most likely to be complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) type 1 in a young male patient with an atypical presentation.A 32-year-old male patient admitted to the outpatient department reported slow progressive complaints that included foot weakness, abnormal posture, edema, and temperature and skin discoloration of the affected leg. A wide range of instrumental studies revealed little-to-no abnormalities that could explain the symptoms. Thus, the diagnosis of exclusion remains CRPS. However, the patient did not experience pain, which is necessary for the diagnosis of CRPS.Discussion: There are several cases in the literature describing the condition that is very similar to CRPS, but without pain syndrome. Since CRPS is a rare condition, and the exact mechanisms of its pathogenesis are not fully understood. It is not possible to conclude whether these cases represent an atypical manifestation of CRPS or a similar condition with different underlying pathophysiology. CRPS should be included in the differential diagnosis in cases where all other clinical features of CRPS, except pain, are present.
Keywords: complex regional pain syndrome, Atypical presentation, foot weakness, Imaging studies, Electromyography, vasomotor symptoms
Received: 29 Jun 2025; Accepted: 19 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Arefyeva, Seliverstova and Sinkin. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Anastasia Arefyeva, N.V. Sklifosovsky Research Institute for Emergency Medicine, Moscow, Russia
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.