[Chronic pain syndrome of the penis following cerebrovascular insult].

Complex regional pain syndromes (formerly sympathetically maintained pain syndromes or reflex sympathetic dystrophy) encompass symptoms of pain, dysfunction and sympathetic disorder. They occur spontaneously or after peripheral or internal lesions (e.g. stroke or myocardial infarction) and predominantly affect the limbs, rarely the face or the trunk. This case report describes a 64-year old man who after a stroke suffered from heavy burning pain in the penis and perineum, which did not ameliorate after established conservative therapy. Sympathetic blockade, however, provided pain relief. The diagnosis of a complex regional pain syndrome, type I, was proposed according to the clinical symptoms in this patient, e.g. causalgia-like burning pain, allodynia, and the temporal association of an internal lesion to the onset of the pain. Other diagnoses such as neuropathic pain of unknown or diabetic etiology or a central post-stroke pain were considered.