[Treatment of algodystrophies]

The first part of the article is a general review of the various drug treatments available for algodystrophy : purely symptomatic, analgesic treatment, vaso-active drugs, calcitonin. The major advance over the last few years has been the use of beta-blockers and calcitonin but, to date, only one double blind trial has been published. This study demonstrated the value of calcitonin after one month of treatment. The authors undertook a retrospective study of 651 cases and a prospective study of 91 cases and based their work on the evaluation of various treatments prescribed separately examining each therapeutic sequence rather than each individual case. Three treatments stood out by their frequent use : griseofulvin, calcitonin and beta-blockers. Each of these drugs was effective in more than 60 p. cent of cases. It is impossible, in such a study, to formulate a hierarchy of the various treatments. Only controlled studies will be able to establish their order of effectiveness. The results vary somewhat according to the site of the algodystrophy. The best therapeutic response is obtained in lesions involving the hip leading to a very favourable prognosis.