When an emergency medicine physician evaluates a child with abdominal pain and a history of appendectomy, appendicitis is often excluded from the differential. We present a case of a 16 year-old boy who developed stump appendicitis 3 years after laparoscopic appendectomy. Knowledge of this rare phenomenon in children can lead to timely diagnosis and avoid the significant additional morbidity as...

Modern sockets for lower limb amputees utilize total contact and distribute some weight on the stump end. Its tolerance to bear weight varies but is better after joint disarticulation, however, systematic measures have been missing. Different levels, indications, shapes etc. were analysed with 102 measurements in 69 patients. The maximal-end-weight-bearing of the stump measured on a scale was m...

OBJECTIVES Contentions exist regarding the true incidence of phantom limb pain (PLP) and other associated post-amputation phenomena. Recognizing and understanding these phenomena would assist in the rehabilitation of amputees. This study was designed to investigate all post-amputation phenomena in a homogenous group of amputees. METHODS Prospective amputees were recruited prior to amputation ...

Painful neuromas may follow traumatic nerve injury. We carried out a double-blind controlled trial in which patients with a painful neuroma of the lower limb (n = 20) were randomly assigned to treatment by resection of the neuroma and translocation of the proximal nerve stump into either muscle tissue or an adjacent subcutaneous vein. Translocation into a vein led to reduced intensity of pain a...

BACKGROUND Patients with lower extremity amputation frequently suffer from socket-related problems. This seriously limits prosthesis use, level of activity and health-related quality of life (HRQoL). An additional problem in patients with lower extremity amputation are asymmetries in gait kinematics possibly accounting for back pain. Bone-anchored prostheses (BAPs) are a possible solution for s...

BACKGROUND Stump appendicitis is a delayed complication of appendectomy. It is rare and few cases reported in the paediatric literature. The authors report on another case in a child and focus on the diagnostic peculiarities of this entity. CASE A 9-year-old boy with previous history of open appendectomy was admitted for a right lower quadrant pain with bilious vomiting and fever. Physical ex...

Painful neuromata occurring after upper limb amputation are a significant cause of stump pain and limit the success of prosthetic training and use. There is little information in the literature regarding incidence, consequences or outcomes of painful neuromata subsequent to upper limb amputation. This article reports an analysis of thirty-two consecutive upper limb amputees. Of these 25% had mo...

OBJECTIVE To provide a better understanding of the prevalence, correlates and quality of phantom sensations and phantom pain in child and adolescent amputees. DESIGN Retrospective survey study. SETTING Recruitment through the War Amputations of Canada. PARTICIPANTS Sixty child and adolescent amputees aged 8-18 years who were missing a limb due to a congenital limb deficiency (n = 27) or s...

OBJECTIVE To highlight the prevalence and impact of skin disease at the stump site in patients who have undergone amputation. DESIGN A cross-sectional health questionnaire of Vietnam War veterans with stump dermatoses at least 38 years after major limb amputation. SETTING A research registry of veterans with combat-related amputations who agreed to participate. PARTICIPANTS Recruitment be...

OBJECTIVE To investigate the effect of extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT) on painful stump neuroma. METHODS Thirty patients with stump neuroma at the distal end of an amputation site were assigned randomly to the ESWT group (n=15) and the transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS)+desensitization+pharmacological treatment group (n=15). For 3 weeks, the ESWT group received a week...