[Sudeck disease--pathology, clinical aspects and therapy]

In our opinion the etiology of Sudeck's disease (acute reflex bone atrophy) plays a decisive role in therapeutic planning. The therapy is based on clinical and radiological findings. Physiotherapy addresses the symptom complex of pain, hyperemia, edema formation, and limitations of movement which act in a vicious circle and its intensity is modified according to the prevailing clinical and possibly also radiological findings. A strict coupling of the therapy to a classification according to stage is not recommended. Pharmacological therapy is merely a supporting element and focuses on the sympathetic overexcitability. The best therapy for Sudeck's disease is prophylaxis. Interventions collected under the general term early functional mobilization are, especially after surgical measures, a major factor in the avoidance of neurovegetative dysregulation in the sense of sympathetic reflex dystrophy.