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Findings that shed new light on the possible pathogenesis of a disease or an adverse effect
Case report
Complex regional pain syndrome and bone marrow oedema syndrome: family ties potentially closer than expected
  1. Samy Benchouk1,
  2. Pierre-Alain Buchard2 and
  3. François Luthi3,4
  1. 1Department for Musculoskeletal Rehabilitation, Clinique Romande de Réadaptation, Sion, Switzerland
  2. 2Department of Rheumatology, Clinique Romande de Réadaptation, Sion, Switzerland
  3. 3Department of Medical Research, Clinique romande de readaptation, Sion, VS, Switzerland
  4. 4Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Orthopaedic Hospital, Lausanne University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland
  1. Correspondence to Dr Samy Benchouk; samy.benchouk{at}gmail.com

Abstract

Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) and bone marrow edema syndrome (BMES) are two rare conditions that are still being discussed. They are generally considered as two distinct entities, yet they share similarities such as a homogeneous bone marrow edema is also often found in the early phase of CRPS. We present the case of a 41-year-old man with CRPS after a foot fracture followed by the development of painful BMES of the ipsilateral knee and hip a few weeks later. The search for another pathology was negative. After pamidronate infusions, the evolution was spectacular: the disappearance of hip pain at 1 month and more than 50% reduction in knee and foot pain at 2 months. At final follow-up (1 year), the patient was asymptomatic. This case reinforces the idea of a possible link between CRPS and BMES probably through similar trabecular bone involvement. Imaging remains useful in diagnosis of CRPS.

  • musculoskeletal and joint disorders
  • pain
  • musculoskeletal syndromes
  • rehabilitation medicine
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.

https://doi.org/10.1136/bcr-2020-234600

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    Footnotes

    • Contributors Planning: SB, FL. Conduct: SB, FL. Reporting: SB, P-AB, FL. Conception and design: SB, P-AB, FL. Acquisition of data: SB, FL. Interpretation of data: SB, P-AB, FL. Writing—original draft: SB, FL. Writing—review and editing: SB, P-AB, FL.

    • Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Patient consent for publication Obtained.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.