Deerfield Researchers Tackle World's Worst Pain

The established McGill Pain Index measures pain on a 1-50 scale:

- Childbirth is 35

- Finger amputation (without anesthesia) is 40

- CRPS is 48

"A touch or the wind against my skin was excruciating," says Gracie Bagosy. The 41-year-old year old Iowan had to wear a protective gauntlet around her lower arm 24-hours a day.

"The pain is unimaginable. It's similar to being set on fire," says Steve Best M.D., a psychiatrist and Director of the Neuroscience Center in Deerfield.

CRPS (Complex Regional Pain Syndrome) affects up to 200,000 Americans. The condition causes burning limb pain, swelling, and changes in color. These symptoms typically worsen with time and often spread throughout the body.

The cause of CRPS is unknown. However, since 90% of victims have a recent limb injury, researchers speculate peripheral nerve damage plays a central role. Since those damaged nerves travel with blood vessels, the nerve also triggers swelling and color changes.

Janice Kammers' arms and hands are badly swollen: her right hand is purple, and her fingers are the size of sausages. Yet the Rockford, Michigan 47-year-old says until recently, her illness was much worse. "I had constant pain in my hips and back, even in my eye. Any movement was so painful I was bedridden."

CRPS is incurable. However, the Neuroscience Center has pioneered a new treatment bringing significant relief to patients for the first time. As a result CRPS patients nationwide are coming to the Deerfield facility for treatment.

The treatment is two mainstream therapies researchers here have experimentally combined for the first time. The first treatment is high-dose intravenous ketamine, a strong anesthetic. During a one hour session, patients simultaneously receive magnetic stimulation of the brain (called TMS). Experimental data shows ketamine blocks chemicals that irritate an injured peripheral nerve. TMS acts directly on the brain's pain center. The Deerfield clinics results with the combined therapy has been published in medical journals worldwide over the past year.

Patients may require dozens of treatments but almost all say the results are worth it.

"Amazing results. I was bedridden. Now sometimes I have almost no pain at all," says 18-year-old Matt Dillon of Lake Villa. " The treatment's a miracle."

Gracie Bagosy has had 36 treatments. "I can manipulate a fork now. I can bathe myself. My kids don't have to wash my hair in the sink anymore. It's like a dream!"

"The treatment isn't a cure, but it's the best treatment for CRPS so far," says Dr. Best. "Patients' constant pain goes from a 10-plus to a level they can function with. "

Objective tests also show the treatment's effectiveness. Neuroscience Center physicians monitors some patients with a functional imaging procedure called brain SPECT. The scan measures blood flow to different regions of the brain.

"Our scans show the treatments rebalance blood flow to the brain," says Dan Pavel M.D. Dr. Pavel is former Professor and Director of the Nuclear Medicine at the University of Illinois.

The center's new combination therapy has also been effective for the pain of fibromyalgia, phantom limb pain, diabetic neuropathy, rheumatoid arthritis, and other conditions.

"The biggest challenge, though, has been helping CRPS patients," says Dr. Best. "Theirs is a pain like no other."

"The only people who can comprehend our pain are other CRPS patients," says Gracie Bagosy. "This center has changed my life; it's saved my life. It's given me my life back."

The Neuroscience Center is located at 440 Lake Cook Road, Deerfield IL 60015 (847-236-9310). The web address is www.neuroscience.md