Phantom Limb Pain
Which Treatment for Phantom Limb Pain Based on Central Mechanisms is Most Effective?
Abstract
Phantom limb pain is a common symptom experienced by over 90% of amputees. It’s defined as a painful sensation from a part of the body that no longer exists. There are a variety of methods for treating this neuropathic pain, but at the moment there is no specific treatment to tackle the pain completely. A mixture of medications and therapies has been proposed and trialed including drugs, surgical treatment and neuromodulation. Nonetheless, it is essential that a specific mechanism is targeted to in order to achieve the best therapeutic method.
From central stimulation to mirror therapy, the development of a wide range of treatments available today is due to central mechanisms of phantom limb pain that provide major grounds for research. Other treatments, aside from those related to the central mechanism, are also worth considering in order to improve our understanding. Results of these trials currently suggest that mirror therapy seems to be the most effective treatment based on central mechanisms, with the remaining therapies giving rise to a range of positive to negative outcomes.
Introduction
Phantom limb pain first arose during the sixteenth century by a French military surgeon, Ambrose Pare (Weinstein, 1998). He described this as pain being perceived from a part of the body which no longer exists, therefore belonging to neuropathic pain syndromes. The phantom limb is generally described to have a tingling sensation and a definite shape that resembles the limb pre amputation. Moreover, some claim to feel it move through space in the same way that the normal limb would have, for example, walking, sitting and stretched out (Melzack, 1973). Almost all amputees would report these non painful sensations immediately after surgery (Nikolajsen et al, 2005). Initially, the phantom limb feels normal causing the amputee to use the limb for its would be usual purposes
Abstract
Phantom limb pain is a common symptom experienced by over 90% of amputees. It’s defined as a painful sensation from a part of the body that no longer exists. There are a variety of methods for treating this neuropathic pain, but at the moment there is no specific treatment to tackle the pain completely. A mixture of medications and therapies has been proposed and trialed including drugs, surgical treatment and neuromodulation. Nonetheless, it is essential that a specific mechanism is targeted to in order to achieve the best therapeutic method.
From central stimulation to mirror therapy, the development of a wide range of treatments available today is due to central mechanisms of phantom limb pain that provide major grounds for research. Other treatments, aside from those related to the central mechanism, are also worth considering in order to improve our understanding. Results of these trials currently suggest that mirror therapy seems to be the most effective treatment based on central mechanisms, with the remaining therapies giving rise to a range of positive to negative outcomes.
Introduction
Phantom limb pain first arose during the sixteenth century by a French military surgeon, Ambrose Pare (Weinstein, 1998). He described this as pain being perceived from a part of the body which no longer exists, therefore belonging to neuropathic pain syndromes. The phantom limb is generally described to have a tingling sensation and a definite shape that resembles the limb pre amputation. Moreover, some claim to feel it move through space in the same way that the normal limb would have, for example, walking, sitting and stretched out (Melzack, 1973). Almost all amputees would report these non painful sensations immediately after surgery (Nikolajsen et al, 2005). Initially, the phantom limb feels normal causing the amputee to use the limb for its would be usual purposes