Phantom limb pain is an urgent problem for many amputee patients, but there is no good solution for the time being, and patients with occasional and mild pain can gradually disappear on their own without special treatment. For patients with persistent, frequent, and severe cases, physical therapy, psychotherapy, and surgical treatment are required. Drugs for the treatment of phantom limb pain, such as morphine, piperidine, etc., are the preferred drugs for elderly phantom limb pain patients, but such drugs are easy to be addictive and may produce side effects such as constipation.
Carbamazepine, gabapentin, phenytoin, etc., also have obvious relief effects on phantom limb pain, but long-term use will gradually develop drug resistance.
Related studies have shown that calcitonin and N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor antagonist ketamine, the use of the two drugs together can relieve the pain of some patients with phantom limb pain, but it is not effective in all patients. Neuro-immune-endocrine system regulators have the effect of relieving phantom limb pain, are not prone to drug resistance, and have relatively few side effects.
Surgical treatment of phantom limb pain includes extremity trimming, anterolateral spinal cord section, thalamic incision, spinal nerve root inlet damage, intracranial stimulation, and sympathetic resection. Pain is mainly relieved by surgically destroying the link that stimulates the afferent nerve of pain, such as the pain center. However, the duration is shorter, and the time can be recurred, and there are more complications. Therefore, surgical therapy is not very effective in the treatment of phantom limb pain. Stimulation therapy, pulsed electrical stimulation therapy, magnetic therapy and wax therapy, interference electrotherapy, massage, hydrotherapy, etc., can relieve pulsatile and compressive phantom limb pain. Amputees may have insomnia, reticent, worried, depressed, and have thoughts of life and other bad emotions. Psychotherapy can be carried out using hypnotic, relaxing, and rational emotional therapy, which can not only effectively alleviate phantom limb pain, but also reduce stress and depression.
Nerve block therapy: Nerve block is one of the most common methods used in clinical treatment of phantom limb pain, including peripheral nerve block, sympathetic ganglion block, epidural or subarachnoid block, etc.
Wearing a prosthesis: Wearing a prosthesis early can reduce phantom limb pain and enhance exercise therapy to transmit pulses from the new periphery.