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.