Prevalence of complex regional pain syndrome in a cohort of multiple sclerosis patients.

Background: More than 50% of multiple sclerosis patients experience chronic pain syndrome. We set out to determine the specific type of chronic pain that was seen in our multiple sclerosis patients.

Methods: Patients with multiple sclerosis were catalogued between January 2002 and April 2006 and identified by a search of the database. Only MS patients that met the 2005 revised McDonald criteria were included.

Results: We determined the prevalence rate of complex regional pain syndrome in a cohort of multiple sclerosis patients. In our sample of 205 multiple sclerosis patients, the prevalence of complex regional pain syndrome was 4 cases per 205 compared to an expected age and sex-adjusted total prevalence of 0.078 cases per 205 (p < 0.0001).

Conclusion: This study suggests that multiple sclerosis patients are at a higher risk of developing complex regional pain syndrome than the general population.