A recent study examined the relationship between phantom limb syndrome and mental and physical comorbidities, including a comparison between phantom limb pain and phantom limb syndrome without pain in people with transtibial amputations. The investigation, which included over 44,000 people, revealed that those with phantom limb syndrome exhibited “significantly higher rate of psychiatric comorbidities compared to those without documented phantom limb pain. Suicidal ideation, major depressive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder were especially common….” Consequently, the study’s authors concluded that a multidisciplinary approach to management is essential for patient care.
The retrospective cohort study used the PearlDiver database and CPT codes to identify patients who had undergone transtibial amputations. Analysis was carried out to evaluate the absence or presence of phantom limb syndrome. Age, sex, Charlson Comorbidity Index score, and region were considered. The median age in the sample was 64 years, and 67.7 percent were male.
Ninety-five percent (42,493 patients) did not develop phantom limb syndrome while 4.8 percent (1,535 patients) did. Phantom limb syndrome was significantly associated with increased odds of coexistent major depressive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, suicidal ideation, obesity, osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, and low back pain.
Analysis of the people with phantom limb syndrome with pain and those without pain did not reveal a statistically significant relationship between the presence of pain and any dependent variable.
The study, “Phantom limb syndrome: Assessment of psychiatric and medical comorbidities associated with phantom pain in 44,028 below-knee amputees,” was published in the journal Injury.
