Session Information
Date: Saturday, November 16, 2019
Session Title: General Rehabilitation Case & Research Report
Session Time: 11:15am-12:45pm
Location: Research Hub - Kiosk 1
Disclosures: Ellie Balakhanlou, MD: Nothing to disclose
Objective: To describe the frequency and severity of phantom limb pain (PLP) in Veterans with major upper limb amputations and determine the association between PLP and person, amputation, and prosthesis characteristics.
Design: Prospective, cross-sectional design.
Setting: National survey of Veterans living in the community.
Participants: United States Veterans (N=776) with major upper limb amputations.
Interventions: Not applicable
Main Outcome Measures: Frequency and intensity of phantom limb pain, person characteristics such as age and gender, amputation characteristics such as level and etiology, prosthesis characteristics such as type, and intensity of prosthesis use.
Results: Respondents were 97% male with a mean age of 63 years and a mean time since amputation of 31 years. The most common amputation level was transradial (36%) and 62% reported “accident” as the amputation etiology. 73% reported PLP with a mean pain intensity score of 4.2 on a 0 to 10 scale (SD 3.4). PLP frequency in the “moderate to always” category was reported in 42%. Moderate intensity residual limb pain [OR 3.68 (1.74, 7.79)] was associated with any PLP, and was associated with higher (β=1.16, P=0.005) PLP intensity among those with pain. Amputation at the shoulder [OR 3.73 (1.87, 7.44)], amputation at the transhumeral level [OR 1.71 (1.05, 2.79)], and etiology of cancer [OR 5.33 (1.15, 24.72)] were also associated with any PLP. Amputation at the shoulder level was associated with 1.5 point higher pain scores (P=.0001) compared to at the transradial level. Multiple variable models failed to show an association between PLP and amputation of the dominant limb (P=.089) or between PLP and intensity of daily prosthesis use.
Conclusions: This study of a large cohort of Veterans with major upper limb amputations highlights the long-term persistence of moderate frequency and intensity PLP.
Level of Evidence: Level III
To cite this abstract in AMA style:
Balakhanlou E, Webster J, Resnik L, Borgia ML. Frequency and Severity of Phantom Limb Pain in Veterans with Major Upper Limb Amputations: Results of a National Survey [abstract]. PM R. 2019; 11(S2)(suppl 2). https://pmrjabstracts.org/abstract/frequency-and-severity-of-phantom-limb-pain-in-veterans-with-major-upper-limb-amputations-results-of-a-national-survey/. Accessed May 12, 2025.« Back to AAPM&R Annual Assembly 2019
PM&R Meeting Abstracts - https://pmrjabstracts.org/abstract/frequency-and-severity-of-phantom-limb-pain-in-veterans-with-major-upper-limb-amputations-results-of-a-national-survey/