If a patient has experienced damage to the left peroneal nerve post-surgery and exhibits extreme neuropathic pain without sympathetic symptoms, what is their diagnosis?

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In the context of the patient experiencing damage to the left peroneal nerve and exhibiting extreme neuropathic pain without sympathetic symptoms, the appropriate diagnosis is complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) type II. This condition typically arises following a direct nerve injury, such as the damage to the peroneal nerve mentioned in the scenario.

CRPS type II, previously referred to as causalgia, specifically pertains to instances where the pain follows a specific nerve injury, which aligns with the patient's symptoms of neuropathic pain localized to the area served by the damaged nerve. While both types of CRPS involve chronic pain, type I occurs without identifiable nerve injury, whereas type II is directly associated with the nerve damage, which is a critical point in this scenario. The absence of sympathetic symptoms also supports the diagnosis of CRPS type II, as these symptoms are more characteristic of type I, where nerve damage doesn't typically present in the same way.

Considering the other options, while neuropathy might describe a condition related to nerve damage, it does not encompass the complex pain behaviors and symptoms seen in CRPS. Similarly, radiculopathy refers to nerve root compression and does not match the extreme neuropathic pain linked to nerve injury seen here. Therefore, CRPS type

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