I already posted the mito information here, on the infection thread.

It is also at the PN forum.
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/thread80999.html

Mito degeneration is now considered a factor in simple aging.

What stands out for me reading here, is that the circulatory system in RSD patients is failing at the small vessel level.
Swelling, discoloration, pain etc are similar in blood clot disorders.
Also the response to HBOT which helps the tissue recover is suggestive of a circulatory failure of some kind. The oxygen helps but does not reverse the process that created the ischemia. Nerve blocks are temporary in that they block the signals to the spinal cord, but they don't reverse the process either.

I find papers like this intriguing:
from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9107464

Calcium channel blockers prevent calcium from causing vasoconstriction. (in other words they are vasodilators and are used in blood pressure control for that. Nifedipine is also used in pregnancy for premature labor and high blood pressure).

Mito disorders used to be considered "rare". To have a full blown case one needs to inherit genes from both parents.
This usually manifests in childhood with first symptoms.

However, now today we are finding that drugs damage mitochondria, some are common antibiotics in fact. Others like statins are used by millions and millions of people.
So mito disorders can be acquired it is now thought.
and are different in presentation than understood in the past.

For example.... Charcot Marie Tooth a hereditary peripheral neuropathy showing some hope with Vit C therapy: It is a failure in some forms of ATP energy production at the mito level.
http://www.cmtfoundation.org/Research/AscorbicAcid.html

As we discover more genetic connections, it might be that some people have a minor error in calcium or other electrolyte/nutrient use in the blood vessels and this gets disrupted by a trauma/surgery, etc and cascades into RSD.

The nutrients used for improving nerve functions in AIDs patients are the same used for mito support. The drugs those patients take damage the nerves and they started with supplements for this over 10 yrs ago. So it is not really "new".
These supplements are not harmful, do not have side effects like drugs do, but are costly to some extent. Some patients on our PN board use them successfully.

If you would like to read more on mitochondria:
from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18192313

As the mitochondrial researchers continue now, on a hot trail,
I think we will see more on this subject. Genetics will also help, as it appears that RSD is not a common disorder and strikes only certain people. Its resistance to treatment so far may be because we don't know exactly why it occurs. And it may turn out that something common (like the Vitamin C in CMT) will be the answer!