Roberto Casale, Francesco Ceccherelli , Alaa Abd Elaziz Mohamed Labeeb, Gabriele Biella
DOI: 10.2340/16501977-0353

Objective: To ascertain the existence of contralateral painful muscle areas mirroring phantom pain and to evaluate the short-term effects of anaesthetic vs saline, injected contra¬laterally to control phantom and phantom limb pain.
Design: Double-blinded cross-over study.
Setting: Inpatients; rehabilitation institute.
Participants: Eight lower limb amputees with phantom limb pain in the past 6 months.
Interventions: Either 1 ml of 0. 25% bupivacaine or 0. 9% saline injected alternately in each point with a 28-gauge needle, with 72 h between injections.
Main outcome measure: Phantom sensation modification and the intensity of phantom limb pain (visual analogue scale) before and after injections.
Results: Although present, painful muscle areas in the healthy limb do not mirror the topographical distribution of phantom limb pain. Sixty minutes after the injection, a statistically significant greater relief of phantom limb pain was observed after using local anaesthetic than when using saline injection (p = 0. 003). Bupivacaine consistently reduced/abolished the phantom sensation in 6 out of 8 patients. These effects on phantom sensation were not observed after saline injections.
Conclusion: Contralateral injections of 1 ml 0. 25% bupivacaine in myofascial hyperalgesic areas attenuated phantom limb pain and affected phantom limb sensation. The clinical importance of this treatment method requires further investigation.