• Akimichi Ichinose, Yuko Sano, Michihiro Osumi, Masahiko Sumitani, Shin-Ichiro Kumagaya, and Yasuo Kuniyoshi.
• 1 The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
• Neurorehabil Neural Repair. 2017 Aug 1; 31 (8): 717-725.

BackgroundPatients who suffer from phantom limb pain can perceive tactile stimuli applied to the cheek on their affected side as if it were coming from their phantom limb, a phenomenon called "referred sensation."ObjectivesTo investigate the analgesic effect produced by tactile feedback provided to the cheek during neurorehabilitation using visual feedback.MethodsNine participants with phantom upper limb pain performed virtual reality neurorehabilitation exercises in which they repeatedly touched a target object with a virtual representation of their affected limb. We applied tactile feedback to their cheek when their virtual affected limb touched a virtual object (Cheek Condition). We also included 2 control conditions where tactile feedback was either applied to their intact hand (Intact Hand Condition) or not applied at all (No Stimulus Condition). We evaluated pain intensity on an 11-point rating scale and pain quality using the short-form McGill Pain Questionnaire before and after each rehabilitation condition.ResultsThe median pain-reduction rate in the Cheek Condition (33.3 ± 24.4%) was significantly higher than in the Intact Hand Condition (16.7 ± 12.3%) and the No Stimulus Condition (12.5 ± 13.5%; P < .05). Even patients who did not feel referred sensations reported significant pain reduction after the Cheek Condition.ConclusionsThe analgesic effect of neurorehabilitative visual feedback during phantom limb movement is significantly improved by applying somatosensory feedback to the cheek on the affected side. Further studies are needed to extend these findings to objective pain measures and to elucidate the neural mechanisms that underlie the analgesic effect.

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