Up to $2,000 is available as a one-time award to Society for Pediatric Pain Medicine members. The award is designed to help SPPM members create an innovative research program for pediatric pain medicine related patient care or for the wellbeing of SPPM members. Submission deadline: November 30, 2025 Eligibility: Current Members of the Society for […]
QUESTION OF THE MONTH/VISUAL PEARLS/POLLS OF THE MONTH
AUGUST 2025 QUESTION OF THE MONTH
Question Authors: Rebecca A. Lazarus, PhD, Stanford University School of Medicine, Sara E. Williams, PhD, Stanford University School of Medicine, and Andy Collins, MD, Stanford University School of Medicine
Question Editor: Rita Agarwal, MD, FAAP, Stanford University
A 16-year-old patient presents with a history of severe pain in her R leg that persists several
months after twisting her ankle during basketball. She reports pain in her right foot without
allodynia, hyperalgesia, temperature or skin changes, but with significant swelling and motor
impairment. She is walking with a crutch as she is unable to weight-bear on her right leg. She is
seen by the multidisciplinary pain clinic and undergoes a unilateral lumbar sympathetic block
under general anesthesia. After receiving the block and waking up from anesthesia, her pain is
resolved, but now she states that she can’t feel or move either of her legs. She gets an MRI,
is evaluated by neurology, and is diagnosed with Functional Neurological Symptom Disorder.
What is the definition of FNSD and how might you describe it to a patient?
A. This is a condition in which there is no easily identifiable structural damage where
communication between the brain and the body is disrupted resulting in motor, sensory, or
cognitive symptoms that are real, but not dangerous in the sense they do not come from
acute damage or disease
B. This is another name for conversion disorder, which is a physical manifestation of
psychological or emotional distress
C. This is a diagnosis of exclusion, where symptoms are present that cannot be explained by
any other diagnosis
D. When a person changes their behavior or demonstrates symptoms purposefully for
secondary gain
E. All of the above
JULY 2025 POLL OF THE MONTH
Poll Authors: Rita Agarwal, MD, FAAP, FASA Stanford University, Stanford, CA and Cheryl J. Hartzell, MD, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH
SPPM 13th Annual Meeting