title: Complex regional pain syndrome acceptance and the alternative denominations in the medical literature.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To analyze the use of the term 'complex regional pain syndrome' in the medical literature and evaluate whether or not the traditional names 'reflex sympathetic dystrophy' and 'causalgia' have already been replaced with the new terms 'complex regional pain syndrome type I' and 'complex regional pain syndrome type II', respectively.
  
  
  METHODS
  The Scopus and PubMed databases were searched for reports written between 2001 and 2012 for the following descriptors in the titles: 'complex regional pain syndrome', 'complex regional pain syndrome type I', 'complex regional pain syndrome type 1', 'complex regional pain syndrome type II', 'complex regional pain syndrome type 2', 'CRPS', 'CRPS type I', 'CRPS type 1', 'CRPS type II', 'CRPS type 2', 'reflex sympathetic dystrophy', 'algodystrophy', 'algoneurodystrophy', 'causalgia', 'transient osteoporosis', 'Sudeck', and 'shoulder-hand syndrome'.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Systematization of the 1,318 articles found yielded the following: 953 (72.31%) articles for the descriptor 'complex regional pain syndrome' and a further 94 (7.13%) for its abbreviation 'CRPS'; 180 (13.66%) for 'reflex sympathetic dystrophy'; 33 (2.50%) for 'shoulder-hand syndrome'; 29 (2.20%) for 'algodystrophy'; 13 (0.99%) for 'causalgia'; 13 (0.99%) for 'Sudeck'; 2 (0.15%) for 'algoneurodystrophy', and 1 (0.08%) for 'transient osteoporosis'. The total number of articles using new terminology represents 1,047 (79.44%) of all articles.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The new neutral term 'complex regional pain syndrome' was most commonly used and will likely replace the traditional names 'reflex sympathetic dystrophy' and 'causalgia'. The new terminology is now widely accepted by the medical professionals who are mostly engaged in the treatment of CRPS patients, but not yet so in other medical spheres.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, Pharmacotherapy and Toxicology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Medical University Sofia, Sofia, Bulgaria.
authors.forename: Jasmina
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Todorova
authors.forename: Nikolaj
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Dantchev
authors.forename: Guenka
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Petrova
mesh_terms: D015706:Bibliometrics; D002422:Causalgia; D016206:Databases, Bibliographic; D006801:Humans; D010506:Periodicals as Topic; D012019:Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy; D009626:Terminology as Topic