Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) is a chronic debilitating painful condition comprising unremitting pain, sensory, sudomotor, vasomotor and motor abnormalities in the affected extremity. It has a peak incidence in the 55-75 age group and there is an association with asthma and migraine. CRPS is three times more common in women than men. CRPS should be suspected in any patient presenting with persistent pain in an extremity beyond the expected period of tissue healing following an acute injury, sprain, fracture or surgical procedure. Severe pain in a glove or stocking distribution is the predominant symptom in > 90% of cases.