What percent of the time are chronic pain patients misdiagnosed?
There is a 40%-67% chance that a chronic pain patient is misdiagnosed or undiagnosed i.e. has an overlooked diagnosis. (Overlooked Physical Diagnoses in Chronic Pain Patients Involved in Litigation, Psychosomatics, Vol. 34, #6, pp. 494-501, Nov.-Dec. 1993, N, Bergson, C, and Morrison, C, Overlooked Physical Diagnoses in Chronic Pain Patients Involved in Litigation, Part 2, Psychosomatics, Vol. 37, #6, pp. 509-517, November-December. 1996). In the case of RSD (CRPS) this misdiagnosis rate may reach 71%, Differential Diagnosis of Complex Regional Pain Syndrome, Pan-Arab Journal of Neurosurgery, pp 1-9, October, 2002.) and if there is an electrical shock or lightning strike involved in the cause of the injury, the misdiagnosis rate may reach over 90% Overlooked Diagnosis in Electric Shock and Lightning Strike Survivors, Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Vol. 47, No. 8, pp. 796-805, Aug. 2005).
