The sIL-2R level in patients referred with a suspicion of Complex Regional Pain Syndrome.
Comparison between those who are diagnosed with CRPS and those who are not.

Rationale: the role of the immune system and specifically T-cells in the pathophysiology of Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) is still unknown. Bharwani et al., 2017, showed an elevated level of the sIL-2R in CRPS patients vs healthy controls. This suggests increased T-cell activation in patients with CRPS. Further, the sIL-2R seems to be a good discriminator between CRPS patients and healthy controls with a sensitivity of 90% and a specificity of 89.5%. This finding warrants further investigation into the role of T-cells in the pathophysiology of CRPS. One limitation of the previous study was that the control group consisted of healthy blood bank donors with no history of chronic pain. It would be interesting to study the difference in sIL-2R level between CRPS patients and chronic pain patients without CRPS. This would increase the validity and consequently the diagnostic value of this marker in the diagnosis of CRPS.



Objective: to compare the level of the sIL-2R between patients who are referred to our Center for Pain Medicine with a suspicion of CRPS but do not fulfil the new IASP Clinical Diagnostic Criteria for CRPS and those who do fulfil the new IASP Clinical Diagnostic Criteria for CRPS and thus are diagnosed with CRPS.



Study design: cross sectional cohort study.



Study population: the study sample consists of adult patients who are referred to the Center for Pain Medicine at Erasmus MC University Medical Center Rotterdam with a suspicion of CRPS.



Main study parameters/endpoints: the main study parameter is the blood sIL-2R level between patients diagnosed with CRPS and the patients who are not.

Day of visit at outpatient clinic

Not applicable