The American journal will publish the progress achieved by the Cantabrian surgeon, Francisco Piñal, in the treatment of the so-called reflex sympathetic dystrophy, Sudeck’s disease, or complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS).

Based on a consecutive series of 225 patients, Dr. Piñal demonstrates that Sudeck’s dystrophy – identified over a century ago – is not a pathology per se but a diagnostic formula that masks real problems in patients. In most cases, the condition arises after a fracture or surgery, and behind it lies a nervous pathology or an unidentified problem. In the series, which includes patients suffering pain for 15 years, he manages to reverse the condition in 95% of them. That is, patients suffering in pain units or in different departments of the healthcare system can reintegrate into their normal lives.

The work is an expansion of the previous one published in July 2022 in the same journal and represents a milestone in the management of this, so far, incurable pathology. In this way, Dr. Piñal’s work becomes part of the medical literature and becomes a reference for the treatment of patients with complex regional pain syndrome or Sudeck’s dystrophy worldwide.

The surgeon considers the elimination of pain in patients diagnosed with complex regional pain syndrome as his current greatest challenge. “Although there are patients with pain,” he says, “there are very few who cannot be cured.”