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Calcineurin-inhibitor Pain Syndrome
The Clinical Journal of Pain, 06/26/2012
Prommer E – The calcineurin syndrome is a newly recognized complication associated with the use of calcineurin inhibitors. There is no standard therapy at this time but anecdotal reports suggest the effectiveness of calcium channel blockers.
Methods- This is a narrative review focusing on the epidemiology, pathophysiology, characterization of a newly recognized pain syndrome associated with the use of calcineurin inhibitors.
- The use of immunosuppressants however is associated with several well–known toxicities to which the calcineurin pain syndrome can be added.
- The development of this syndrome most likely involves altered nociceptive processing due to the effect of calcineurin inhibition on neuronal firing, as well as effects of calcineurin on vascular tone.
- The most striking aspect of the treatment of this syndrome is the response to calcium channel blockers, which suggest that the effects of calcineurin inhibition on vascular tone play an important role in the development of the calcineurin pain syndrome.
