Adult limb and breast amputees' experience and descriptions of phantom phenomena-A qualitative study.

Background Phantom phenomena - pain or other sensations appearing to come from amputated body parts - are frequent consequences of amputation and can cause considerable suffering. Also, stump pain, located in the residual limb, is in the literature often related to the phantom phenomena. The condition is not specific to amputated limbs and has, to a lesser extent, been reported to be present after radical surgery in other body parts such as breast, rectum and teeth.

Phantom phenomena - Their perceived qualities and consequences from the patient's perspective.

Background and aim The curious phenomenon phantom limbs early became the object of research, and its underlying mechanisms have been discussed over the years. The complex nature of phantom phenomena makes interpretation of the results ambiguous, regarding both prevalence and the accompanying suffering. There is a lack of knowledge about how amputees experience the meaning and consequences of phantom phenomena.

The meaning and consequences of amputation and mastectomy from the perspective of pain and suffering.

Background: The concepts 'pain' and 'suffering' are frequently treated as synonymous. However, they are clearly distinct phenomena. Phantom phenomena including pain and sensory disturbances are still recognized as long-lasting problems after limb amputation and after mastectomy.

Phantom breast and other syndromes after mastectomy: eight breast cancer patients describe their experiences over time: a 2-year follow-up study.

Unlabelled: Patients often experience hard-to-treat neuropathic pain and other sensations after surgery; consequently, they could develop chronic pain conditions. The phantom limb phenomenon is a well-documented postoperative pain condition. However, phantom phenomena after mastectomies are less documented.

Gabapentin in traumatic nerve injury pain: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over, multi-center study.

A double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled cross-over multi-center study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy and safety of gabapentin in the treatment of neuropathic pain caused by traumatic or postsurgical peripheral nerve injury, using doses up to 2400 mg/day. The study comprised a run-in period of two weeks, two treatment periods of five weeks separated by a three weeks' washout period. The primary efficacy variable was the change in the mean pain intensity score from baseline to the last week of treatment.

Breakthrough pain in malignant and non-malignant diseases: a review of prevalence, characteristics and mechanisms.

Breakthrough pain or transient worsening of pain in patients with an ongoing steady pain is a well known feature in cancer pain patients, but it is also seen in non-malignant pain conditions with involvement of nerves, muscles, bones or viscera. Continuous and intermittent pain seems to be a general feature of these different pain conditions, and this raises the possibility of one or several common mechanisms underlying breakthrough pain in malignant and non-malignant disorders. Although the mechanisms of spontaneous ongoing pain and intermittent flares of pain (BTP) may be difficult to separate, we suggest that peripheral and/or central sensitization (hyperexcitability) may play a major role in many causes of BTP.

Existential pain--an entity, a provocation, or a challenge?

"Existential pain" is a widely used but ill-defined concept. Therefore the aim of this study was to let hospital chaplains (n=173), physicians in palliative care (n=115), and pain specialists (n=113) respond to the question: "How would you define the concept existential pain?" A combined qualitative and quantitative content analysis of the answers was conducted. In many cases, existential pain was described as suffering with no clear connection to physical pain.

Pain questionnaires in the analysis of long lasting (chronic) pain conditions.

A study on mainly non-cancer-related pain patients was performed concerning clinical patient data used for pain history-taking and diagnosis. More than 2100 consecutive patients referred to the anaesthetic branch of the Multidisciplinary Pain Centre (MPC) were evaluated at the first visit. The use of a paper questionnaire, including a pain-drawing and pain intensity Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), was analysed.

Intravenous phentolamine test: diagnostic and prognostic use in reflex sympathetic dystrophy.

In some patients, ongoing and evoked neurogenic pain is relieved by pharmacological or destructive block of the sympathetic innervation of the affected part. In others, sympatholysis is ineffective. The present report shows that these two groups of patients can be distinguished by a safe and simple diagnostic test.

Prolonged relief of neuralgia after regional anesthetic blocks. A call for further experimental and systematic clinical studies.

Thirty-eight consecutive patients with neuralgia after peripheral nerve injury were treated with one or two series of peripheral local anesthetic blocks. All patients experienced an initial total relief of ongoing pain for 4-12 h. Evoked pain (hyperalgesia or allodynia), which occurred in 17 patients, was blocked simultaneously with the spontaneous pain.