Researchers used Germany’s Heidelberg Amputation Registry to analyze data about the prevalence of phantom limb pain, phantom limb sensation, and residual limb pain among people with lower-limb amputations. The findings emphasize the role of comprehensive registries in enhancing care for individuals with amputations and guiding targeted pain management strategies.
The single-center, cross-sectional study used data from 459 patients registered in the Heidelberg Amputation Registry, and logistic regression models were used to identify the independent risk factors associated with the sensory disturbances.
The mean age of the patients (31 percent female, 69 percent male) was 58 years. On average, the patients were 44 years old at the time of amputation, with a mean duration since amputation of 15 years. Transtibial amputations were the most common (43 percent), followed by transfemoral (39 percent), and partial foot amputations (10 percent). Hip and knee disarticulations were observed in 3.7 percent and 3.5 percent of the cohort. Hemipelvectomies accounted for 1 percent.
Traumatic injuries (32 percent) and neoplastic disorders (22 percent) were the leading causes of lower-limb amputations, while peripheral artery disease and diabetes were responsible for 12 percent and 6 percent of cases, respectively.
Eighty-five percent of the cohort reported experiencing abnormal sensations. The prevalence rates for phantom limb pain, phantom limb sensation, and residual limb pain were 58 percent, 66 percent, and 46 percent, respectively. The occurrence of sensory disturbances, with the exception of residual limb pain, was significantly affected by the level of amputation.
Notably, the authors wrote, the age at amputation emerged as an independent risk factor for developing abnormal sensations, including phantom limb sensation.
The Heidelberg Amputation Registry was developed at Heidelberg University Hospital in cooperation with the Bundesverbandes für Menschen mit Arm-oder Beinamputation (the Federal Association for People with Arm or Leg Amputation).
The open-access study, “Pain after lower limb amputations: Insights from the Heidelberg Amputation Registry,” was published in Medicina as part of a special issue, “Innovations in Amputation Care.”
