Preamputation Mirror Therapy May Prevent Development of Phantom Limb Pain

Mirror therapy has been effectively employed to treat majority of the 72 % of amputees with  phantom limb syndrome, suffering from  both  non-painful and painful sensations. Mirror therapy involves patients placing their intact limb into one side of a box divided by a mirror. This mirror is placed in a way that when viewed slightly off center, allows patients to perceive themselves as having 2 intact limbs. Having this perception, patients perform a series of movement exercises with the intact arm. Then, as unscientific as it may sound, the pain vanishes. The question remained that,  if mirror therapy can treat phantom limb pain, couldn’t it be used to prevent it from occurring before hand? They conducted a 4 case study involving 4 male patients in their early to late twenties who  had previously experienced various traumatic injuries that rendered their limbs inoperative. To test this connection in possibly preventing  phantom limb pain, all patients underwent 14 sessions of mirror therapy before their amputations. The follow ups of 1 month after each patient’s surgery revealed moderate to no phantom limb pain. Those who experienced moderate phantom limb pain expressed that they were tolerable and did not hamper their quality of life. Noticing the varied outcomes, the researchers reflected that the length of the mirror therapy sessions should be prolonged according to patients and their conditions. The mechanism behind the effects of mirror therapy on phantom limb pain is  still a mystery in the field of psychology. However, with up coming studies, even a small contribution of knowledge in the ability to prevent phantom limb pain can have a dramatic impact on the public, the amputees themselves, and future research.

Hanling, Steven R. MD; Wallace, Scott C. MD; Hollenbeck, Kerry J. MD; Belnap, Brian D. DO; Tulis, Matthew R. MD. Anesthesia & Analgesia (February 2010), 110(2),pg 611-614