J Korean Acad Rehabil Med. 2000 Apr;24(2):193-199. Korean. -
Comparison of Catecholamine Levels in Hemiplegic Patients with and without Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy.
Kim EG, Kim YG, Byun SJ, Kim HS, Ahn KH.
Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Kyung Hee University College of Medicine.
Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Joongmoon College of Medicine.
Department of Neurology, Kyung Hee University College of Medicine.
OBJECTIVE: To determine whether the cause of sympathetic dysfunction is due to increased regional sympathetic outflow or receptor supersensitivity to circulating catecholamines in the pathogenesis of reflex sympathetic dystrophy in hemiplegia. METHOD: Ten hemiplegic patients with reflex sympathetic dystrophy were instructed to refrain from smoking or using caffeine and alcohol, and medications that influence catecholamine metabolism were witheld for 24 hours before blood sampling. Patients with cardiovascular disease, diabetes or abnormal liver and renal function tests were excluded from the study. Patients with a history of sympathectomy were also excluded.
"Sympathectomy is a technique about which we have limited knowledge, applied to disorders about which we have little understanding." Associate Professor Robert Boas, Faculty of Pain Medicine of the Australasian College of Anaesthetists and the Royal College of Anaesthetists, The Journal of Pain, Vol 1, No 4 (Winter), 2000: pp 258-260