[Causalgia: Report of a case (author's transl)]. / La douleur causalgique: A propos d'un cas.

The authors present the clinical course of a 48 year old workman who developed a progressively extending pain, after having wounded his left second finger with a metallic rod at work. This pain increased despite multiple surgical and medical treatment, including repeated amputations of the segments of the finger and the resection of the corresponding neurovegetative chain. When, two years later, the patient is seen by the authors, psychological analysis clearly shows an imbalanced evolution since chilhood: the pain is a focussing of various physical disconforts. A neuropsychological treatment is started in accordance with the noted background and the pain subsides within a few weaks. The result is stabilized in many months of treatment. From this clinical case, the authors stress the often dominant influence of the mental state in pain in general, and more specifically is the so called causalgic pain.