Training with virtual visual feedback to alleviate phantom limb pain.

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

Performing phantom movements with visual virtual feedback, or mirror therapy, is a promising treatment avenue to alleviate phantom limb pain. However the effectiveness of this approach appears to vary from one patient to another.

OBJECTIVE:

To assess the individual response to training with visual virtual feedback and to explore factors influencing the response to that approach.

METHODS:

Eight male participants with phantom limb pain (PLP) resulting from either a traumatic upper limb amputation or a brachial plexus avulsion participated in this single case multiple baseline study. Training was performed 2 times per week for 8 weeks where a virtual image of a missing limb performing different movements was presented and the participant was asked to follow the movements with his phantom limb.

RESULTS:

Patients reported an average 38% decrease in background pain on a visual analog scale (VAS), with 5 patients out of 8 reporting a reduction greater than 30%. This decrease in pain was maintained at 4 weeks postintervention in 4 of the 5 participants. No significant relationship was found between the long-term pain relief and the duration of the deafferentation or with the immediate pain relief during exposure to the feedback.

CONCLUSIONS:

These results support the use of training with virtual feedback to alleviate phantom limb pain. Our observations suggest that between-participant differences in the effectiveness of the treatment might be related more to a difference in the susceptibility to the virtual visual feedback, than to factors related to the lesion, such as the duration of the deafferentation.

• Authors: Catherine Mercier, Angela Sirigu
• Journal: Neurorehabilitation and neural repair (Neurorehabil Neural Repair) 2009 Jul-Aug Vol. 23 Issue 6 Pg. 587-94 ISSN: 1545-9683 [Print] United States
• PMID: 19171946 (Publication Type: Journal Article)

Topics

• Adult
• Amputation, Traumatic (complications)
• Amputees (psychology, rehabilitation)
• Brachial Plexus Neuropathies (complications)
• Feedback
• Humans
• Imagery, Psychotherapy
• Male
• Middle Aged
• Movement
• Pain Measurement (methods)
• Phantom Limb (psychology, rehabilitation)
• Therapy, Computer-Assisted (methods)
• Treatment Outcome
• Upper Extremity (physiopathology)
• User-Computer Interface
• Visual Perception
• Young Adult