- Sudek's atrophy
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pain, swelling, stiffness, and skin changes in a part of the body, most often the hand or foot, sometimes caused by overactivity of the sympathetic nervous system following trauma or surgery or occasionally arising spontaneously; a Colles' fracture is frequently the precipitating cause. In more severe cases the condition progresses over a few months with increasing stiffness, cool shiny skin, and osteoporosis; severe pain may persist. X-rays show patchy rarefaction (thinning) of the bone. Treatment is physiotherapy and sympathetic nerve blocks. The condition can last many months, and in the most severe cases the patient is left with a useless painful limb.P. H. M. Sudek (1866-1938), German surgeon
Medical dictionary. 2011.