Prospective diary study of nonpainful and painful phantom sensations in a preselected sample of child and adolescent amputees reporting phantom limbs.
OBJECTIVE
To prospectively study factors associated with the occurrence of phantom sensations and pains in a pre-selected sample of child and adolescent amputees reporting phantom limbs.


METHODS
Prospective diary study over 1 month.


METHODS
Fourteen child and adolescent amputees from 10-18 years of age who were missing a limb due to trauma (n = 12) or congenital limb deficiency (n = 2), and who had previously reported having phantom sensations and pain.


METHODS
Diary used to assess the occurrence of non-painful and painful phantom sensations. Items included age, sex, location and cause of amputation, past experience with stump pain and pre-amputation pain, and intensity, quality, duration, and triggers of the sensations and pains.


RESULTS
Thirteen amputees reported having 104 incidents of non-painful phantom sensations with an average intensity of 4.17 (SD = 2.14) on a 0-10 rating scale. Fifty-three incidents of phantom pain with an average intensity of 6.43 (SD = 1.76) were recorded by 8 amputees. Both amputees with a congenital limb deficiency reported phantom phenomena. Girls reported more psychosocial triggers than did boys whereas boys were more likely than girls to report that they could not identify a trigger (P = 0.0001). Boys also reported a higher proportion of physical triggers than psychosocial triggers while there were no differences for girls (P = 0.0001).


CONCLUSIONS
Child and adolescent amputees experience phantom sensations and pains on a regular basis over a 1-month period. Differences in triggers of phantom phenomena between boys and girls may be due to differences in activities, awareness, attribution, and willingness to report psychosocial triggers.
Department of Nursing, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada. umwilk04@cc.umanitoba.ca
Krista L
KL
Wilkins
Patrick J
PJ
McGrath
G Allen
GA
Finley
Joel
J
Katz
D000293:Adolescent; D000674:Amputees / Q000523:psychology*; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D017880:Limb Deformities, Congenital / Q000523:psychology; D008297:Male; D008499:Medical Records; D010146:Pain / Q000523:psychology*; D010147:Pain Measurement; D010591:Phantom Limb / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012677:Sensation / Q000502:physiology*; D012727:Sex Characteristics