Psychiatric approach in the treatment of reflex sympathetic dystrophy in an adolescent girl: a case report.

Reflex sympathetic dystrophy (RSD) is an unusual diagnosis in the pediatric age group. It is a syndrome characterized by pain in one or more extremities with a significant morbidity in childhood. Patients with RSD have frequently undergone many unnecessary investigations such that the diagnosis and treatment may be considerably delayed. The pathophysiology remains unclear; however, a number of psychological problems were frequently suggested to play a role in this disorder. We describe a 13-year-old girl diagnosed as pediatric RSD who was admitted to a child and adolescent psychiatry unit with a history of severe pain in the right hand, increasing disability and symptoms of nervousness and withdrawal from social activities. In this report, we discuss psychogenic factors underlying the disorder of an adolescent girl and psychiatric approach as a part of a multimodal treatment of pediatric RSD.