Plastic and reconstructive surgery
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Plast. Reconstr. Surg. · Dec 2006
Surgical treatment of chronic phantom limb sensation and limb pain after lower limb amputation.
Therapy for phantom sensation and phantom limb pain following amputation is still difficult, because pathophysiologic mechanisms have not been clarified. This report illustrates a simple and useful surgical intervention. The authors propose that changes at the peripheral nerve site can influence the central feeling of phantom sensation and pain. ⋯ This study shows that accurate treatment of the peripheral nerve can help to successfully reduce phantom limb pain. The authors feel encouraged to perform future investigations to test their operative method in a prospective, randomized, matched control study including electrophysiologic tests for more objective pain assessment.