Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) After an Accident in Utah

Complex regional pain syndrome is one of the hardest injuries to prove in an injury claim, because the injury that sets it off can look minor on paper. The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) describes CRPS as a condition that usually affects an arm or a leg after an injury and causes ongoing pain much stronger than the injury itself, pain that can continue even after the original injury has healed. A sprained wrist or a broken ankle from a car crash can be the starting point.

An adjuster reviewing that file often sees a routine fracture followed by months of complaints that do not seem to match it. Our job is to connect the two with the medical records, a clear timeline, and the opinions of the physicians who made the diagnosis. The steps in a Utah personal injury case explain how a claim moves from there.

What CRPS Is, in Medical Terms

NINDS separates the condition into two types. Type 1 follows an illness or injury that did not damage a specific nerve, and most people with CRPS have this type. Type 2 follows damage to a specific nerve. Either can bring intense pain that spreads beyond the injured spot, sensitivity to light touch, color and temperature changes in the skin, changes in hair and nail growth, unusual sweating, joint stiffness and, over time, weakness or trouble moving the limb. NINDS names fractures, especially a broken wrist, as the most common cause, along with sprains, surgery, burns and cuts. MedlinePlus, from the National Library of Medicine, lists older names for the condition, including reflex sympathetic dystrophy (RSD) and causalgia, which still turn up in some medical records. This is general information from NINDS and MedlinePlus; only your doctors can say whether you have CRPS.

Why Insurers Push Back on CRPS Claims

There is no blood test. NINDS explains that CRPS is diagnosed from a person's symptoms and a physical exam by a doctor familiar with nerve and pain conditions, and that nerve conduction studies can detect nerve injury linked to type 2 but usually cannot confirm type 1. An adjuster may treat a diagnosis without a lab result as opinion rather than fact.

Much of the evidence is what the patient reports. Burning pain and sensitivity to touch are hard to photograph, and insurers sometimes argue the pain is exaggerated or comes from something else. That is why findings your doctors record, such as temperature differences between limbs, skin and nail changes, swelling, or bone changes on imaging, carry so much weight.

The diagnosis often comes late. CRPS is rarely named in the emergency room. It tends to surface after weeks or months of pain that should have been improving, sometimes after a cast or surgery, and the gap between the crash and the diagnosis becomes the insurer's argument that something else caused it. Our page on gaps in medical treatment explains how those arguments are built and answered.

Your medical history. NINDS lists risk factors such as asthma, migraine, osteoporosis, smoking and certain blood pressure medicines. A risk factor is not a cause, but expect the defense to search your prior records for anything it can point to. The better approach is a medical history explained up front rather than discovered by the other side.

Early, low offers. Adjusters tend to value the claim by the original injury, a sprain or a fracture, instead of by the condition it became. Settling before CRPS is diagnosed can close the claim for good; see should I accept the first settlement offer.

Building the Medical Record

The strongest CRPS claims tell one continuous story from the crash forward: the emergency records documenting the original injury, follow-up visits noting pain out of proportion to healing, the referral to a neurologist, pain physician or orthopedic surgeon, and the diagnosis with the findings behind it. We gather those records, build the timeline, and ask treating physicians to explain why the crash caused the condition. When a case calls for it, we retain independent medical, vocational and economic professionals, and those costs are advanced as case costs.

Keep your own record too: a short daily note of pain levels and what you could not do, and photos of color changes or swelling when they appear. NINDS notes that treatment usually works best when started early, and the defense will look for missed therapy appointments. Before you talk to the other driver's insurer about your symptoms, read our guide to recorded statements.

Timing and Deadlines

Most Utah injury suits must be filed within four years under the catch-all in Utah Code § 78B-2-307, but a claim against a city, county or state agency needs a written notice of claim within one year under § 63G-7-402. Because CRPS can take months to diagnose, part of that time may be gone before anyone knows how serious the injury is. Our statute of limitations page covers the exceptions.

What Treatment Can Involve

NINDS says there is no cure for CRPS and that treatment focuses on reducing pain and improving daily life. Depending on the person, it can include physical and occupational therapy, medicines, psychological support such as cognitive behavioral therapy, and in some cases procedures like spinal cord stimulation, dorsal root ganglion stimulation or an implanted pain pump. Some of that care continues for years, so the future-care side of the claim deserves as much attention as the bills already paid.

Long-Term Damages in a CRPS Claim

• Future medical care: therapy, medication, procedures and device replacement, priced in a life-care plan. See how future costs are proven in Utah.
• Lost earning capacity: NINDS notes that in more severe or long-lasting cases a person with CRPS may be unable to work or do usual daily activities.
• Non-economic losses: constant pain, lost sleep, and the activities and independence the condition takes away.
• Past losses: medical bills, missed work and out-of-pocket costs from the crash forward.

Finding Enough Coverage

A claim for a long-term pain condition can outrun the at-fault driver's policy quickly. Utah's minimum bodily injury limit for policies issued or renewed on or after January 1, 2025 is $30,000 per person under § 31A-22-304. Your own underinsured motorist coverage, an employer's policy or an umbrella policy may add to it; see finding every insurance policy after a Utah crash. Fault matters as well: under § 78B-5-818, you recover only from parties whose fault is greater than yours, so being found 50% or more at fault ends the claim.