PURPOSE This paper describes the design and implementation of a case study based investigation using immersive virtual reality as a treatment for phantom limb pain. METHOD Three participants who experienced phantom limb pain (two with an upper-limb amputation, and one with a lower-limb amputation) took part in between 2 and 5 immersive virtual reality (IVR) sessions over a 3-week period. The ...

OBJECTIVES The objective was to examine the evidence to determine the optimal management of phantom limb pain in the preoperative and postoperative phase of amputations. METHODS Trials were identified by a systematic search of MEDLINE, review articles, and references of relevant trials from the period 1966-1999, including only English-language articles. Included trials involved a control grou...

Early treatment of phantom limb pain in patients after amputation reduces the incidence of chronic pain sensations from 60 85 % to 10 20 % [1]. A 33 year old patient with osteosarcoma of proximal humerus developed a burning pain VAS 7-8 (Visual analog scale 0-10) of the left hand and fingers three days after amputation of the left arm in the shoulder joint. Treatment with calcitonin, amitriptyl...

BACKGROUND Between 1992 and 2001 the UK general practice incidence of post-herpetic neuralgia and trigeminal neuralgia declined, whilst the incidence of painful diabetic neuropathy increased. The most common first line treatments were compound analgesics. As therapeutic options have subsequently changed, this study presents updated data on incidence and prescribing patterns in neuropathic pain....

PURPOSE The aim of this study was to measure the efficacy of a single 60 min application of capsaicin 8% patch in reducing chronic amputation stump and phantom limb pain, associated hypersensitivity with quantitative sensory testing, and changes in brain cortical maps using functional MRI (fMRI) scans. METHODS A capsaicin 8% patch (Qutenza) treatment study was conducted on 14 patients with si...

Two cases in which anginal pain was referred in part to a " phantom " left arm are here recorded as a contribution to the problem of the mechanism of referred pain. In both, (1) the left arm had been amputated more than 25 years before the onset of cardiac pain, (2) there was evidence, both clinical and cardiographic, of gross myocardial damage, and (3) the " phantom " component of the pain was...

Phantom limb pain is a painful sensation that is perceived in a body part that no longer exists. To control this pain, many methods have been used such as medication, physical treatment, nerve block, neuromodulation, surgical treatment and mirror therapy. However, until now, there effects have been uncertain. We report the successful reduction of phantom limb pain using mirror therapy when othe...

Chronic pain following lower-limb amputation is now a well-known neuropathic, chronic-pain syndrome that usually presents as a combination of phantom and stump pain. Controlling these types of neuropathic pain is always complicated and challenging. If pharmacotherapy does not control the patient's pain, interventional procedures have to be taken. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effica...

The cause of pain in a phantom limb after partial or complete deafferentation is an important problem. A popular but increasingly controversial theory is that it results from maladaptive reorganization of the sensorimotor cortex, suggesting that experimental induction of further reorganization should affect the pain, especially if it results in functional restoration. Here we use a brain-machin...

This paper describes a study protocol to investigate the use of immersive virtual reality as a treatment for amputees' phantom limb pain. This work builds upon prior research using mirror box therapy to induce vivid sensations of movement originating from the muscles and joints of amputees' phantom limbs. The present project transposes movements of amputees' anatomical limbs into movements of a...