| There are nearly 2 million people with limb loss solely in the USA, commonly caused by trauma, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, and congenital limb deficiency. Phantom limb pain (PLP) is characterized as the pain occurring in the missing limb following an amputation and occurs in up to 80% of amputees. There are many current treatments for PLP that are often invasive and do not provide long lasting solutions. Patterned electrical neuromuscular stimulation (PENS) is a non-invasive surface electrical stimulation that has been used for pain management and re-education of muscle action. It has been beneficial in treatment of other injuries and may be applied to PLP.;In this study the Omnistim FX2 Pro was used to apply PENS at a low frequency and short phase duration to the residual limb in two lower limb amputee subjects. The electrical stimulation delivered through the surface electrodes was increased to a non-painful level of intensity that elicited a motor contraction in the antagonistic muscles of the residual limb for a duration of 15 minutes over 15 sessions. Pain data was collected using a 10-point numerical rating pain scale (NRS) before and after each treatment session. Presence of the characteristics of PLP including cramping, stabbing, shooting, and burning pain were tracked each week.;A one sided dependent T-test showed PENS effectively reduced the PLP in the two participants by over 85% (p<.05). Both participants began the study with severe PLP (8-10 NRS) and obtained sustained relief lasting up to 3 weeks from the therapy at little to no pain (1-2 NRS). PENS therapy was able to alleviate cramping, stabbing, and shooting PLP symptoms. The therapy was well accepted and participants commented that nothing had been able to relieve their PLP before this. The beneficial preliminary results from this pilot study should be expanded into a larger clinical trial to improve the significance of the effects, include application to upper limb amputees, as well as include a control. |
