Der Schmerz
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A recently published randomized study failed to show a significant reduction of phantom limb pain after perioperative epidural analgesia EDA [9]. Since these findings were not supported by previous studies,we conducted an analysis of factors contributing to the results of phantom limb pain prophylaxis. We calculated the efficacy of perioperative EDA as "Number Needed to Treat" (NNT). ⋯ Perioperative EDA has been shown to be an effective prophylaxis of phantom limb pain. The most important differences between studies were the definition of phantom limb pain by intensity ratings. Thus, perioperative EDA does not completely abolish phantom limb pain, but increases the number of patients with a mild form of phantom pain.