Muscle spasms associated with Sudeck's atrophy after injury.

Four patients developed abnormal involuntary movements of a limb after injury. All subsequently developed sympathetic algodystrophy with Sudeck's atrophy and then abnormal muscle spasms or jerks of the affected limb, lasting years. Sympathetic block in three patients did not relieve the abnormal movements. Two patients obtained partial recovery spontaneously, but the other two required surgery for relief. The pathophysiology of this condition remains to be determined but the evidence suggests that it is a distinct, disabling clinical syndrome.