Anesthesiology
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
Ultrasound-Guided Percutaneous Cryoneurolysis to Treat Chronic Post-Amputation Phantom Limb Pain: A Multicenter, Randomized, Controlled Trial.
Postamputation phantom pain is notoriously persistent with few validated treatments. Cryoneurolysis involves the application of low temperatures to reversibly ablate peripheral nerves. The authors tested the hypothesis that a single cryoneurolysis treatment would decrease phantom pain 4 months later. ⋯ Percutaneous cryoneurolysis did not decrease chronic lower extremity phantom limb pain 4 months after treatment. However, these results were based upon the authors' specific study protocol, and since the optimal cryoneurolysis treatment parameters such as freeze duration and anatomic treatment location remain unknown, further research is warranted.