Leading pain specialist highlights complex syndrome in the New England Journal of Medicine
Pain Medicine Consultant and Chair of Pain Medicine at the University of Liverpool, Professor Andreas Goebel, has highlighted the need for more awareness of Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) in an article published in the internationally renowned New England Journal of Medicine this week.
CRPS is a rare, often severe post-traumatic limb pain condition of possible autoimmune origin. Of those affected, one in five patients will have persistent symptoms. Treatment can include pain management programmes to support self-care, and, in some patients, neurosurgical interventions may be recommended if other pathways have been exhausted.
Professor Goebel said: “It's important to recognise this often invisible pain condition and increase the awareness. Many patients can go a long time undiagnosed because of very individual symptoms. Prompting more discussion around it can only help improve knowledge, and direct patients to the correct services.
“Here at The Walton Centre, we run a dedicated CRPS service, which looks at each patient holistically, incorporating education, pain relief, physical rehabilitation, and psychological intervention into their care.”
The CRPS review features in the New England Journal of Medicine, recognized as the world's leading medical journal and website. Published continuously for over 200 years, the publication aims to deliver high-quality, peer-reviewed research and interactive clinical content to physicians, educators, researchers, and the global medical community.
The Walton Centre's Deputy Chief Executive and Medical Director Dr Andy Nicolson said: “Highlighting this condition is an important step in getting more people diagnosed and treated. Often it can be a debilitating condition for a number of reasons, which is why substantial effort from Professor Goebel and his team goes into raising awareness and researching new treatments and ways of supporting CRPS patients.”
Alongside the University of Liverpool, The Walton Centre team are at the forefront of CRPS research world-wide, initiating a UK Guideline Group, which recently developed UK Guidance for health professionals for managing the condition - the first of its kind in the UK.
For more information on The Walton Centre's CRPS service, visit our website: https://www.thewaltoncentre.nhs.uk/complex-regional-pain-syndrome-crps
You can also find the current national guidelines for CRPS on the Royal College of Physicians website: https://www.rcp.ac.uk/media/4uijppdz/complex-regional-pain-syndrome-in-adults-second-edition_0.pdf
You can read the full article here: https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMcp2415752
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Notes to editors
Further information, or to arrange an interview, please contact the Communications Team at The Walton Centre on 0151 556 3397 or wcft.communications@nhs.net
The Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust is the only hospital trust in the UK specialising in neurology, neurosurgery and pain services. Although the majority of patients come from Merseyside, Cheshire, North Wales, Lancashire and the Isle of Man, for some specialist treatments of complex disorders we see patients from all parts of the country, referred by their GPs or other neurologists, neurosurgeons and pain clinicians.
The Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust was rated as 'Outstanding' by the Care Quality Commission. The independent regulator of all health and social care services in England published its rating on Friday 21 October 2016, following announced and unannounced inspection visits to the Trust in April 2016.
For more information please visit: www.thewaltoncentre.nhs.uk or follow the Trust on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram.
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