Phantom limb pain: relief by application of TENS to contralateral extremity

Abstract

Three adult patients with below-knee amputation of various etiologies were treated at Norristown's Sacred Heart Hospital and Rehabilitation Center in the fall of 1983. The patients ranged in age from 48 to 64 years and two were men. All three had complaints of phantom limb pain originating from various anatomic sites of the amputated extremity. In all three cases the phantom limb pain was severe and hampered prosthetic training. The patients were treated solely by application of the TENS unit to the contralateral extremity at the sites where the phantom pain originated on the amputated limb. All three patients responded to treatment and were able to continue their prosthetic training. A six-month follow-up showed no pain recurrence of phantom limb pain in all three cases.