Pain issues and treatment of the person with an amputation

Abstract

Most people with amputations should not experience pain that interferes with their quality of life or requires regular medication more than 6 months following the amputation surgery. In fact, most people with amputations do not experience significant pain more than 3 months following the amputation. However, the clinician must specifically define what these patients mean when they relate that they have pain. The pain must be carefully differentiated to treat it properly. Most problematic pain that is present more than 6 months after amputation is related to a poorly fitting prosthesis and should be labeled as residual limb pain.

Keywords: Amputation; Pain issues; Pain treatment algorithm; Phantom limb pain; Residual limb pain.