The patient had disabling symptoms for three years after an injury to her right foot.

Before putting herself in the hands of Dr Piñal and his team, 16-year-old Paula suffered from intense pain and severe functional limitations. After several previous failed procedures, she was diagnosed with reflex sympathetic dystrophy or complex regional pain syndrome, which would lead her to a future of curtailed mobility as a chronic patient, dependent on a continuous supply of drugs. Now, after the intervention of the Spanish surgeon and once cured, the newscast of Antena 3 have broadcasted the details of the case (+ clinical info).

Dr Piñal doesn’t consider this condition -identified more than a century ago- a pathology per se, but rather a diagnostic formula that masks an unidentified origin of totally treatable problems, which may appear after an intervention, a fracture or an infectious process.

During his long history of clinical management of complex regional pain syndrome, Dr Piñal has treated and cured several hundred patients with this diagnosis, with a 98% success rate.

Part of the conclusions of the Spanish surgeon and microsurgeon regarding complex regional pain syndrome will be incorporated into the medical literature in the coming months, thanks to its publication in the prestigious journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS), ‘Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery ‘, after an exhaustive peer review process, with up to 10 reviewers of the final text.

Among the milestones of Dr Piñal in his work on complex regional pain syndrome (known as reflex sympathetic dystrophy too) is also the presentation of his thesis before the plenary session of the American Society for Surgery of the Hand (ASSH), in September 2019 in Las Vegas.

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

Born in Santander, northern Spain, in 1960, Dr Francisco del Piñal is considered one of the world’s best hand surgeons. His contributions in fields like microsurgical toe to hand transfer or arthroscopic surgery techniques on wrist fractures are endorsed and used internationally.

As other milestones in his career, it is worth mentioning the setting of the principles of surgery in the acute catastrophic hand, as well as his leading role in the development of wrist arthroscopy, through procedures such as dry arthroscopy.

Currently, Francisco del Piñal leads Piñal y Asociados clinics in Madrid and Santander and the unit of hand and microsurgery at Hospital La Milagrosa in Madrid.

Related content:

• The Spanish public broadcaster (TVE) shows the advances of Dr Piñal’s work on complex regional pain syndrome

• Testimonial: “They thought I was crazy, that I was pretending. They did not understand my pain”

• Functional recovery and pain elimination surgery in case of Sudeck’s atrophy (complex regional pain syndrome or reflex sympathetic dystrophy) in the lower limb

• Functional recovery and elimination of pain through surgery in patient diagnosed with complex regional pain syndrome or Sudeck’s atrophy

• (Update 2) Media, TVE: Dr. Piñal discovers a procedure for the cure of cases of reflex sympathetic dystrophy

• Elimination by microsurgery of pain in case of reflex sympathetic dystrophy in the lower limb

• Testimonial: “It felt like a wooden hand and full of pain”

• Piñal y Asociados creates an online information and consultation group for patients of Sudeck’s atrophy or reflex sympathetic dystrophy

• Reflex sympathetic dystrophy or Sudeck’s atrophy: alternative diagnoses and surgical solution

• Testimonial: ” They told me that I had Sudeck’s syndrome and that there was nothing to do”

• Media, A3 TV: Dr. Piñal presents the results of his research on Sudeck’s atrophy in the US

• Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (RSD)/CRPS/SUDECK does not exist

• Testimonial: “I was in terrible pain, but Dr. Piñal’s operation has revived me”

• Testimonial: “After the intervention of Dr Piñal I’m coming back to my life again”

• Vascularized neurocutaneous flap transplant in case of reflex sympathetic dystrophy

• Testimonial: “It’s the first time in four years that I sleep five hours in a row”

• Testimonial: “The surgery has been fabulous, I left the operating room without pain”

• Testimonial: “I was told that it was crazy to operate Sudeck’s atrophy but the result has been marvelous”

• Diagnosis reassessment and surgery: healing of a patient with Sudeck’s atrophy

• Patient diagnosed with reflex sympathetic dystrophy or Sudeck’s atrophy: healing by means of diagnostic correction and  surgery

• Dr Piñal: “There are many patients labeled as sick of reflex sympathetic dystrophy or Sudeck’s dystrophy who actually suffer from a pathology that we haven’t been able to identify”

• Dr. Piñal: “Reflex sympathetic dystrophy does not exist, it is a ‘scam’, a catch-all in which to hide what goes beyond our knowledge”

• Dr Piñal: “People with alleged reflex sympathetic dystrophy have to rebel against that diagnosis and seek a second opinion”

• Editorial: I have a dream… reflex sympathetic dystrophy (RSD or Complex Regional Pain Syndrome – CRPS1) does not exist