The autonomic nervous system is responsible for a huge number of very complex functions in the body and brain. It is responsible for homeostasis. Temperature control? Yes. Perspiration? Yes. Blood vessel diameter? Yes. These are all functions that are thrown into dysfunction by RSD/CRPS, so how could this system not be involved? And yes, the Sympathetic nervous system is a division of the ANS. No one has "thrown out" the idea that RSD/CRPS is caused by autonomic dysfunction. Central sensitization is just the mechanism by which this dysfunction takes place. It is an explanation at the level of neurotransmitters and receptors for how this dysfunction occurs. (I direct your attention to a recent article http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1...ubmed_RVDocSum

Also, many of the treatments that are used for RSD/CRPS are directed specifically at the sympathetic nervous system. Blocks? All of these injections are put directly into the dorsal ganglia of the sympathetic chain. If the sympathetic nervous system were not involved, why would these blocks, and spinal cord stimulators be so successful in treating this condition?

Also, I find it strange that you readily endorse research and theories that were developed between 1916 and 1940, but you seemingly refuse to accept the changing and evolving face of research that has taken place beyond that date. And current research does address skin and nail and bone changes that accompany RSD/CRPS. (Check out journals of dermatology and bone.) Osteolysis (the destruction of bone cells) is a huge subject in current research and you can't just dismiss such research out of hand because you disagree with it. Technology changes exponentially each and every year, and there are some really great reasons why the theories of 1916 aren't still in favor. Scientists didn't even know what germ theory was back then! We had no clue about neurotransmitters or anything . . .

And quite often, color changes in the periphery are due to vasocontriction brought on by autonomic changes in temperature regulation. The inability to properly regulate temperature comes first, and then the limb that appears "cyanotic". It is not happening the other way around. If it were, people would be losing limbs, as happens in the true cyanosis that is seen is diabetes or clotting disorders.

Just one more point, the central sensitization theory is not just a theory about the spinal cord- it is about a process that is happening in the brain too. It starts in the peripheral soft tissues and then recruits neurons in the spinal cord and brain.

I know that sometimes it's easy to think that all of these systems are separate. But the unifying theory about it all is that the brain always has the last say. Whether it's the immune system, cardiovascular or motor- the brain controls it all.