Journal of Pain Research (Oct 2022)
An Algorithm Approach to Phantom Limb Pain
Abstract
Jacob Boomgaardt,1 Kovosh Dastan,1 Tiffany Chan,2 Ashley Shilling,2 Alaa Abd-Elsayed,3 Lynn Kohan2 1Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA; 2Department of Anesthesiology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA; 3Department of Anesthesiology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USACorrespondence: Lynn Kohan, Department of Anesthesiology, University of Virginia, 545 Ray C Hunt Suite 3168, Charlottesville, VA, 22903, USA, Tel +1-434-243-5676, Fax +1-434-243-5689, Email [email protected]: Phantom limb pain (PLP) is a common condition that occurs following both upper and lower limb amputation. First recognized and described in 1551 by Ambroise Pare, research into its underlying pathology and effective treatments remains a very active and growing field. To date, however, there is little consensus regarding the optimal management of phantom limb pain. With few large well-designed clinical trials of which to make treatment recommendations, as well as significant heterogeneity in clinical response to available treatments, the management of PLP remains challenging. Below we summarize the current state of knowledge in the field, as well as propose an algorithm for the approach to the treatment of PLP.Keywords: phantom pain, phantom sensations, stump pain, residual limb pain
