Final Product Proposal

Introduction:
Pain is a fear that every person wants to avoid. Some people have pain on a regular basis, due to
a rare disease called CRPS, or Complex Regional Pain Syndrome. This is a much unknown
disease, as it is very rare. The effects of disease are quite dramatic, as it leads to a circumstance
where patients cannot do daily activities.
What is complex regional pain syndrome? This disorder causes an uncommon type of chronic
pain in the arms or the legs. It is not a genetic disorder, and it normally develops after a bad
accident, surgery, or heart attack. There is not much research done on this syndrome, so there
isn’t a known cause. However, according to NIH, 90% of the patients who develop this disease
were reported to have an injury or trauma. Peripheral nerve issues found in CRPS usually
involves the small unmyelinated axons that carry pain messages and signals to blood vessels.
Also, since small fibers communicate with blood vessels, injuries to these blood vessels could
result in CRPS. CRPS symptoms are able to be improved, or even healed completely if diagnosis
the disorder is in early stages. Symptoms of this disorder are quite vast, as they range from
sensitivity to stiffness. After the doctor suspects the patient of this problem, the doctor normally
looks at bone imaging or an MRI to diagnose the disease. Treatments are then given to the
patients, normally in the form of pain relievers or opioids.

Currently, NIH is doing more research on the nervous system to find what CRPS is caused by.
Although progress is being made, there is still no cure or answer to the CRPS. NIH continues to
research and new technology is helping in finding more information on CRPS. Although CRPS
is rare, it is a drastic disease that affects people. Without a possible cure, many people have to
live a life of pain. Awareness of this disease would greatly help other people in finding a way
helping the cause, or for someone suffering with CRPS, it will give them hope of finding relief.

Research Skills:

For this case study, it is very important to get a solid foundation of CRPS. Although there is not
much information out there, I should look up scientific articles that show a way of possibly
curing CRPS or at the very least, finding a cause. As part of my case study, it is very important
to have a solid understanding of the disease. Without the essential knowledge, I can actually
make a scientific and novel case study. In the future I hope to get this published, so I must also
learn to talk about it and its importance.

Additionally, it is essential to learn how to present a scientific case study. The format cannot be
compromised, as that makes the whole case study look unprofessional. Also, it is important to
find novel resources, so I can be seen as a reliable source. If I seem unreliable, then this makes
the whole study look bad. I would then fail to spread awareness about this disorder, which is
ultimate goal.

Lastly, I hope to organize meeting with other pain management doctors, so I can show them
work. I want to revise my case study several times, so I can have this as a piece of work to
remember. Also, by meeting many of these doctors, I could possible form relations with them for
future work or future projects. This would be great for me in the field of medicine, as
connections will only help.

Materials:

To do a case study, one must get approved by the doctor and patient. Normally it is necessary to
get the case study approved by the hospital as well, but in this study, the patient is associated
with a different hospital. Dr. Maxey is the doctor who is helping with this case study and the
patient in which Dr. Maxey has taken approval from, is Tyler Burr. Tyler Burr is diagnosed with
CRPS and he had visited many doctors to get the problem resolved. Finally, he came to Dr.
Maxey. With Dr. Maxey he tried different treatments, and Dr. Maxey tried a new treatment. This
new treatment worked well for him.

Procedures:

1. Begin by emailing Dr. Maxey about a patient to interview for a case study.
2. After the patient has been found, email Dr. Maxey and the patient (Tyler in this case)
about coordinating a time to speak.
3. Schedule a date for the interview with both Dr. Maxey and Tyler Burr.
4. Note the details of the case and record the conversation in case, I miss anything.
5. Make an outline of the case study writing and analysis.
6. Get the outline approved by Dr. Maxey and begin working on the rough draft.
7. Edit it at a minimum of 3 times, then show it do Dr. Maxey and get it approved.
8. Call other pain management doctors to get any more suggestions.

Conclusions:

As of now, much cannot be assumed. It is expected that Tyler felt the pain through a random
point, maybe cause of an injury. He could have possibly felt burning or stiffness among the
body. The pain should have been persistent and should have stuck by for quite some time.
Multiple treatments should have been tried, such as a simple steroid injection to remediate the
pain, or even attempting to temporarily kill of the nerve (radiofrequency ablation). If there will
be success, then the patient would have to come sometimes to get rid of the pain. Finding this
“ideal” treatment is a hearty effort and takes a lot of work.

With the case study, it is still very unclear what causes CRPS, as for Tyler, he did not have any
serious injury when presented with the symptoms. Researchers have linked traumatic injury to a
cause for CRPS; however, in Tyler’s case this is not apparent. It also appears that Tyler still lives
on with the pain, as there is no way to completely get rid of it, rather it can be reduced. With this
in mind, Tyler loved sharing his information, and wanted everyone to know of such a disease, as
it very painful, and has no cure.

My goal is to study the case of Tyler, and to find research articles that would potentially lead me
to a hypothesis for the anomalies of CRPS. My relating other articles to the study of Tyler and by
looking in depth into Tyler’s case, I hope to discover something big. CRPS is a devastating
problem, in which I hope to contribute.

Calendar:

March 4, 2018: Have the first call with Tyler and Dr. Maxey

March 9, 2018: Final the final product proposal; Leave out conclusions

March 16, 2018: Have an outline for the case study built

March 23, 2018: Have a rough draft of the case study and find other cases if possible; add a
connection

March 30: Read through it multiple times and show it to Dr. Maxey