title: Fibromyalgia and the complex regional pain syndrome: similarities in pathophysiology and treatment.
abstract: Although the pain of fibromyalgia usually is not preceded by an injury to the involved tissue, whereas that of the complex regional pain syndrome usually starts at a site of prior trauma or surgery, both disorders may share a common mechanism-pathologic sensitization of brain mechanisms that integrate nociceptive signals-and both apparently respond to treatment with ketamine, an anesthetic-analgesic agent whose actions include blockade of N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors. Ketamine's widespread illegal use as a recreational agent probably precludes developing it as a general treatment of centrally mediated pain disorders; however, its efficacy suggests that related, to-be-discovered agents could be useful.
authors.affiliation: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA. dick@mit.edu
authors.forename: Richard J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Wurtman
mesh_terms: D020918:Complex Regional Pain Syndromes / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D005356:Fibromyalgia / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D007649:Ketamine / Q000627:therapeutic use*
chemical_list: D007649:Ketamine