A pharmaceutical drug provided to patients with conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis seems to be effective in treating a condition called Complex Regional Pain Syndrome, too.

Complex Regional Pain Syndrome/ CRPS is progressive and those that develop it experience intense pain and swelling. How it begins is not known, but the possible root causes include surgery side effects and injuries experienced while playing sports. CRPS is capable of affecting people of all ages, but typically strikes people in early middle-age, and women are especially susceptible.

The introduction of IVIG (Intravenous Immunoglobulin), though, lowered pain levels in close to 50 per cent of CRPS patients - according to a report in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

CRPS Treatment

The report published the results of a study carried out by researchers at the University of Liverpool (UK), and future trials of the drug as a CRPS treatment are set to take place in its wake. 13 patients were assessed overall - all of them CRPS sufferers for half-a-year or more.

While Intravenous Immunoglobulin was ineffective in some instances, for a significant number, it acted to reduce their pain for over a month, on average.

A similar trial has been taking place in Germany. "We have seen the same in our patients in more acute stages of the disease", University of Giesseu researcher Professor Franz Blaes stated. "Some of the patients really do benefit - probably between thirty and fifty per cent of them."

He added that, so far, the trials had not indicated, pre-hand, the patients that could be expected to benefit from Intravenous Immunoglobulin, but said this was being looked into.

CRPS: Intravenous Immunoglobulin

According to Doctor Andreas Goebel, who headed the Liverpool CRPS treatment research, even better results might be able to be produced when Intravenous Immunoglobulin is prescribed at a higher dose, or when it accumulates in the body.

"IVIG is normally repeated every four weeks and we are working to develop ways which would allow patients to administer the treatment in their own home", Dr Goebel explained.

"The discovery is expected to have a real impact on the treatment of other unexplained chronic pain conditions; if one pain condition can be effectively treated with an immune drug, then it is possible that other types will also respond."