Complex Regional Pain Syndrome After an Undisplaced Wrist Fracture: A Review of Early Recognition
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22548544Keywords:
Complex regional pain syndrome, Wrist fracture, Distal radius fracture, Budapest criteria, Early recognition, Vitamin C prophylaxisAbstract
Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) after wrist fracture is uncommon in population-based registries
but occurs at a meaningfully higher rate in prospective fracture cohorts, and pain and disability out of
proportion to an undisplaced fracture's apparent severity is among its most consistently reported early
warning signs. The Budapest clinical criteria give clinicians a structured, four-domain framework for
recognising the syndrome early, and randomised trial evidence supports vitamin C prophylaxis and early
active mobilisation as low-risk measures that reduce incidence in exactly the fracture population this
condition affects. This review synthesises the incidence, risk-factor, diagnostic-criteria, and
early-intervention literature to set out what a clinician managing an undisplaced wrist fracture should
watch for, and do, before CRPS becomes established.
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