Bone mineral density is associated with pre-treatment pain levels of complex regional pain syndrome type 1 and predicts the response to N-containing bisphosphonates.

Objectives: Complex regional pain syndrome type 1 (CRPS type 1) is a debilitating pain disorder that often follows trauma or surgery. While bone involvement has been implicated in its pathogenesis, the relationship between systemic bone loss and disease severity or treatment response remains unclear. The aim of this study is to investigate the association between systemic bone loss and CRPS severity and response to treatment.

Methods: This prospective observational study enrolled patients with CRPS type 1 diagnosed per IASP criteria. Inclusion criteria were recent post-trauma CRPS (<4 weeks) and treatment initiation within 2 months. Patients received IV neridronate (100 mg/day for 4 days, total 400 mg). Pain was assessed using the Visual Analog Scale (VAS) at baseline and 30 days post-treatment. Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) was used to measure one mineral density (BMD) at the lumbar spine, femoral neck and total hip. Stepwise linear regression and mixed-effects models assessed predictors of baseline pain and treatment response.

Results: Sixty-fine CRPS type 1 patients were included in the study. Baseline VAS pain was 70.9±2.19, significantly decreasing to 24±3.8 post-treatment (p<0.001). Lower lumbar spine Z-score correlated with higher baseline pain and predicted greater pain reduction following neridronate (β=-8.7, SE 3.2, p=0.008) independently from age, sex, BMI and limb affected.

Conclusions: Lower BMD was associated with greater CRPS severity and better response to treatment. These findings support the roleof bone in CRPS pathogenesis and suggest that DXA-derived Z-scores may help identify patients most likely to benefit from bisphosphonates.