In a case where the patient develops severe arm pain and atrophy two days after surgery with negative sensorimotor evaluation, what is the MOST LIKELY diagnosis?

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The central idea is that severe, focal arm pain after surgery that seems out of proportion to exam findings points toward Complex Regional Pain Syndrome. CRPS can develop after a surgical procedure and often presents with intense pain that doesn’t match objective neurologic signs, especially early on when sensorimotor testing can appear normal. Over time, autonomic and trophic changes and even muscle wasting or atrophy can occur as a result of persistent pain and disuse, which fits the scenario described two days after surgery.

If surgery-related complications like surgical misadventure or nerve injury were driving the pain, you’d expect clearer neurologic deficits or wound issues soon after the procedure. An infection would more likely show systemic or local inflammatory signs such as fever, warmth, redness, swelling, or drainage. Cervical myelopathy would typically produce upper motor neuron signs and sensory changes spreading beyond a single limb, not isolated severe arm pain with early negative sensorimotor findings.