Cryoablation Therapy Could Help Ease Phantom Limb Pain

A new study suggests that applying cryoablation blasts may reduce the phantom limb pain that plagues many amputees.

Researchers at Emory University (Atlanta, GA, USA) and Washington University School of Medicine (WUSTL; St. Louis, MO, USA) conducted a study in 20 patients, with each amputee undergoing image-guided cryoablation of the nerve and scar tissue in the residual limb stump. During the cryoablation procedure, a probe was precisely placed through the skin, and the temperature was reduced for 25 minutes to create an ablation zone, shutting down nerve signals.

The researchers also asked the patients to rate their pain on a 1-10 visual analog scale (VAS) before, seven days after, and 45 days after the intervention. The results showed that while before cryoablation, the patients reported an average pain score of 6.4 points; but by day 45, the average score was reduced to 2.4 points. The study was presented as a poster session at the annual meeting of the Society of Interventional Radiology (SIR), held from during April 2016 in Vancouver (Canada).

“Until now, individuals with phantom limb pain have had few medical interventions available to them. Many of the nerves contributing to these pains are inaccessible to physicians without image guidance,” said lead author and study presenter J. David Prologo, MD, of the division of interventional radiology. “With the interventional radiologist skill set, we can solve tough problems through advanced image-guided therapies, and this promising treatment can target hard-to-find nerves and help amputees dramatically improve their lives, all in an outpatient setting.”

The term “phantom limb” was coined by American neurologist Silas Weir Mitchell in 1871, relating to the sensation of a limb or an organ not physically part of the body. While phantom limb sensations are experienced by many people with congenital limb deficiency, spinal cord injury, and amputation, phantom limb pain occurs almost exclusively as a result of amputation. The pain sensations are recorded most frequently following the amputation of an arm or a leg, but may also occur following the removal of a breast or an internal organ.

Related Links:
Emory University
Washington University School of Medicine