Phantom Limb Pain and Its Psychologic Management: A Critical Review

Phantom limb pain is a puzzling phenomenon, from the viewpoints of both the patient experiencing it and the clinician trying to treat it. This review focuses on psychologic aspects in the origin of the PLP and critically evaluates the various psychologic interventions in the management of PLP. Whereas pharmacologic and surgical treatments often fail, psychologic interventions may hold promise in managing PLP. Studies using cognitive-behavioral therapies and hypnotherapy are reviewed. The outcome reports for psychologic therapies have been mainly positive. The results of the majority of these studies show a reduction in PLP. However, the lack of well controlled and randomized trials makes it difficult to draw firm conclusions regarding the effectiveness of these psychologic therapies in the treatment of PLP.