Disability and rehabilitation
-
Review Comparative Study
Psychological factors after traumatic amputation in landmine survivors: the bridge between physical healing and full recovery.
Limb loss due to a landmine injury is sudden and devastating. The resulting disability makes life challenging in a world where physical ability is the 'norm'. In order to better understand the psychological adjustments individuals make in their recovery from a landmine injury, the Landmine Survivors Network conducted an exploratory qualitative study to determine factors that contribute to an individual's recovery. The study examined psychosocial aspects, coping strategies, and resilience characteristics of limb loss survivors across differing cultural, societal and economic backgrounds. ⋯ Recovery from traumatic amputation in landmine survivors needs to be comprehensive and coordinated, and requires addressing the individual's physical, psychological, economic and social needs within the context of family, community, and the socio-cultural environment in which they live.
-
Comparative Study
Psychosocial predictors of long-term adjustment to lower-limb amputation and phantom limb pain.
To evaluate the utility of a biopsychosocial model to predict long-term adjustment to lower-limb amputation and phantom limb pain (PLP). ⋯ The findings support a biopsychosocial model of long-term adjustment to amputation and PLP. In addition, results suggest that some psychosocial variables are more important than others for predicting adjustment, providing important implications for early interventions after amputation.
-
To analyse how decisions to dichotomise the frequency and impediment of phantom pain into absent and present influence the outcome of studies by performing a sensitivity analysis on an existing database. ⋯ The choice of cut off points influences the outcome of phantom pain studies considerably. This study provides some insight into the differences in prevalence and risk factors found in literature.
-
Phantom limb pain (PLP) can be an enduring and distressing experience for people with amputations. Previous research has shown that 'mirror treatment' can reduce PLP for some people who have an upper limb amputation, and that it can increase a sense of motor control over the phantom in people with lower limb amputations who are not reporting PLP. There has been no previous report of therapeutic 'mirror treatment' for lower-limb phantom pain. ⋯ This case study, conducted in a conventional clinical setting, supports the potential of 'mirror treatment' for PLP in people with a lower limb amputation.
-
Anecdotal evidence suggests that General Practitioners (GPs) vary in their understanding of phantom pain and associated factors in amputees. This has implications in that the GP's conception of the problem will determine what treatment or referral is offered. ⋯ These findings have serious implications for the management of phantom limb pain, disability and psychological distress in amputees in that GPs not only provide first line treatment, but are also the gatekeepers for referral to other services. Given this, the role of other professionals within the primary health care team may prove an additional resource for providing both support and accurate information to amputees in the community.