title: Impairment level SumScore for lower extremity Complex Regional Pain Syndrome type I.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To construct a single indicator on impairment level for lower extremity Complex Regional Pain syndrome type I (CRPS I).
  
  
  METHODS
  The Impairment level SumScore (ISS) for upper extremity CRPS I was adapted to be used for lower extremity evaluation. Medline literature search and research findings were used to adapt the upper extremity version of the ISS, with emphasis on reliability, responsiveness and validity of measurement instruments. Where needed, additional patient data was gathered to evaluate these aspects for different measurement instruments.
  
  
  METHODS
  An outpatient clinic of a university hospital in the Netherlands.
  
  
  METHODS
  Two groups consisting of 17 and 26 healthy volunteers, and two groups of respectively 40 and 18 lower extremity CRPS I patients according to Veldman's criteria.
  
  
  METHODS
  VAS and McGill pain scores, water displacement volumeter values, and physicians' and patients' assessment of CRPS I severity.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A combination of measurements, incorporating pain (VAS and McGill), temperature (infrared thermometer), volume (water displacement volumeter) and active range of motion (universal goniometer), was converted in a single score ranging from 5 to 50. The reliability, as well as the responsiveness was adequate.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The lower extremity ISS permits evaluation of the most prominent symptoms in CRPS I, and can be used to monitor changes in CRPS I.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, VU university medical center Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Roberto S G M
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Perez
authors.forename: H Margreet
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Oerlemans
authors.forename: Wouter W A
authors.initials: WW
authors.lastname: Zuurmond
authors.forename: Jaap J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: De Lange
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D035002:Lower Extremity; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010147:Pain Measurement; D016059:Range of Motion, Articular; D012019:Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy / Q000145:classification* / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012881:Skin Temperature