Primary Erythromelalgia Treated With 10% Capsaicin Cream: A Case Report and a 10-Year Follow-Up

Abstract

In this case report, we describe the difficulty in finding a suitable treatment for a nine-year-old girl with erythromelalgia. Initially, she could only find pain relief through immersion of her hands and feet in buckets of cool water. Her pain did not respond to outpatient treatments, and she was ultimately admitted to the hospital for pain management. Many different medications and modalities were tried over the course of several weeks in the hospital. Finally, she received the most benefit from 10% compounded capsaicin cream administered under general anesthesia with regional analgesia for post-application pain. Over the course of several years, exacerbations of her pain were treated with additional applications of 10% capsaicin cream, with each application providing relief for an increased duration. Her severe pain flares eventually went into remission after several years. Today, after more than a decade following her initial presentation, she is a successful college student and is taking no medications for her erythromelalgia.