Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Phantom Limb Pain

  • Reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Trauma Care

  • 556 Accesses

Synonyms

Central pain; Deafferentation pain; Neuropathic pain syndrome; Paresthesias; Phantom limb; Postamputation pain; Post-surgical pain; Stump pain; Supernumerary phantom pain

Definition

Phantom limb pain (PLP) is the persistent perception of pain in a limb that has been amputated. This phenomenon was described as early as the sixteenth century by a French military surgeon Ambroise Pare. PLP may afflict up to 90 % of individuals after loss of a limb. Besides pain after the loss of a limb, phantom sensations have also been described after removal of other organs (Table 1), enucleation, and even with multiple sclerosis (Jensen et al. 1985).

Phantom Limb Pain, Table 1 Body parts associated with phantom sensations/pain
Full size table

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 599.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 899.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Alviar MJM, Hale T, Dungca M (2012) Pharmacologic interventions for treating phantom limb pain. The Cochrane Collaboration. 2012 Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd

    Google Scholar 

  • Foell J, Berkrater-Bodmann R, Flor H et al (2011) Phantom limb pain after lower limb trauma: origins and treatments. Int J Low Extrem Wounds 10(4):224–235

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Jensen TS, Krebs B, Nielsen J, Rasmussen P (1985) Immediate and long-term phantom limb pain in amputees: incidence, clinical characteristics and relationship to pre-amputation limb pain. Pain 21(3):267–278

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Montoya P, Larbig W, Grulke N, Flor H, Taub E, Birbaumer N (1997) The relationship of phantom limb pain to other phantom limb phenomena in upper extremity amputees. Pain 72(1–2):87–93

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ramachandran VS, Altschuler EL (2009) The use of visual feedback, in particular mirror visual feedback, in restoring brain function. Brain 132:1693–1710

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Viswanathan A, Phan PC, Burton AB (2011) Use of spinal cord stimulation in the treatment of phantom limb pain: case series and review of the literature. Pain Pract 10(5):479–484

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wolff A, Vanduynhoven E, van Kleef M, Huygen F, Pope JE, Mekhail N (2011) Phantom pain. Pain Pract 11(4):403–413

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anesthesiology, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS, USA

    Talal W. Khan & Edward E. Braun

Authors
  1. Talal W. Khan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Edward E. Braun
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Talal W. Khan .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Departments of Anesthesiology, Surgery and Neurosurgery, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY, USA

    Peter J. Papadakos

  2. Department of Surgery, Emergency Medicine and Pediatrics, University of Rochester, School of Medicine, Rochester, New York, USA

    Mark L. Gestring

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2015 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this entry

Cite this entry

Khan, T.W., Braun, E.E. (2015). Phantom Limb Pain. In: Papadakos, P.J., Gestring, M.L. (eds) Encyclopedia of Trauma Care. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-29613-0_482

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-29613-0_482

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-29611-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-29613-0

  • eBook Packages: MedicineReference Module Medicine

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation