Healing

The most important factor in the treatment of Sudeck’s disease is an early and stage-appropriate multimodal therapy. For a cure, the recognition of this clinical picture at the earliest possible stage is particularly important. The best chances of a cure exist when there is no nerve injury.

In a few cases the complete cure of this disease is successful, but usually only in close cooperation with specialized doctors and teams of experts in this field. It is important here that the treating physicians are well versed in the therapy of Sudeck’s disease and, if necessary, work in an interdisciplinary manner. Teams of experts are therefore often made up of orthopedists, pain therapists, physiotherapists, occupational therapists and psychotherapists.

Often a certain pain symptomatology persists or the disease recurs at irregular intervals. For these patients it is of great importance to be closely monitored by the already mentioned teams of experts in order to enable them to at least have some control over their complaints. This is usually successful.

Only a small group of patients is permanently affected by this disease. In most cases, the painful symptoms of the pain remain for a long time and the affected extremity suffers from functional limitations. But even if the pain cannot be completely treated, it is important that those affected also seek psychological help at an early stage, as chronic pain can often lead to further psychological symptoms. These in turn can further aggravate the symptoms and lead the affected person into a vicious circle. It therefore makes sense to start psychotherapy or behavioral therapy in addition to pain therapy in order to be able to combat or even prevent further problems at an early stage and to contribute to an improved quality of life overall.

Prognosis

88% (Maier C. 1996) free of symptoms after rapid diagnosis confirmation and multimodal therapy (temporal application of various forms of therapy). Monotherapies (single therapy) showed significantly worse results. 2% recurrence rate (recurrence after healing), whereby in approx.

50% the opposite side may also be affected! Spontaneous remissions (disappearance of the disease without therapy) when the symptoms are fully developed are rare. A small percentage is resistant (inability to treat) to any known form of therapy.