Previous studies have indicated that amputation or deafferentation of a limb induces functional changes in sensory (S1) and motor (M1) cortices, related to phantom limb pain. However, the extent of cortical reorganization after lower limb amputation in patients with nonpainful phantom phenomena remains uncertain. In this study, we combined functional magnetic resonance (fMRI) and diffusion tens...

Data on 40 upper limb amputees (11 bilateral) with regard to stump pain, phantom sensation and phantom pain is presented. All the patients lost their limbs as a result of violent injuries intended to terrorise the population and were assessed 10–48 months after the injury. All amputees reported stump pain in the month prior to interview and ten of the 11 bilateral amputees had bilateral pain. P...

People experience the feeling of the missing body part long after it has been removed after amputation are known as phantom limb sensations. These sensations can be painful, sometimes becoming chronic and lasting for several years (or called phantom pain). Medical treatment for these individuals is limited. Recent neurobiological investigations of brain plasticity after amputation have revealed...

OBJECTIVES There is evidence that amputation leads to cortical reorganization, and it has been suggested that phantom pain might be related to a consequently emerging incongruence of motor intention, somatosensation and visual feedback. One therapeutic approach that has the potential to temporarily resolve this visuo-proprioceptive dissociation is mirror therapy, during which amputees typically...

INTRODUCTION Despite technical advances in spinal cord stimulation (SCS), there is a paucity of recent literature regarding SCS for phantom limb pain. METHODS Between January 2003 and May 2008, four patients at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center underwent SCS for intractable phantom limb pain. A retrospective chart review was performed to assess outcomes and complications. A PubMed search was perfor...

Almost all patients who undergo amputation suffer 'phantom sensations', a sensory perception of the missing limb, possibly caused by a neural imprint or memory of the limb within the brain. The patient may experience abnormal kinaesthetic sensation, such as the feeling that the limb is in an abnormal position. Perceived changes in length, size or temperature of the limb are also common. Some of...

Augmented Reality (AR) and the environments that it creates have the ability to change a person’s sensory experience in various ways. The therapeutic potential of AR has only recently been realised and more applications of this technology are gradually being utilised for the treatment of people suffering from phobias, severe burns and spinal cord lesions. Augmented environments can be used to d...

Phantom limb pain in amputee patients is not well defined in the literature. Also there is still no clear information on the definition and treatment of phantom radicular pain, in which amputee patients also have radicular pain. This phenomenon, called phantom radiculitis or phantom radiculopathy, has been described in a limited number of cases. If a pathological condition to cause radicular pa...

OBJECTIVE To provide a theoretical background, to review existing literature and to present new case material relevant to the treatment of phantom limb pain using hypnotic imagery. METHOD This paper presents two new case reports involving the use of hypnotic imagery procedures in the alleviation of phantom limb pain and reviews 10 previous clinical studies which have involved a similar approa...