Article

Environmental electromagnetic fields influence biological systems.
Evidence suggests these have a role in the experience of phantom limb pain in
patients with amputations.
This article followed a previous study to
investigate the effect of electromagnetic field shielding with a specially
designed prosthetic liner. STUDY DESIGN: Randomised placebo-controlled
double-blind crossover trial. METHODS: Twenty suitable participants with
transtibial amputations, phantom pain at least 1 year with no other treatable
cause or pathology were requested to record daily pain, well-being, activity and
hours of prosthetic use on pre-printed diary sheets. These were issued for three
2-week periods (baseline, electromagnetic shielding (verum) and visually
identical placebo liners - randomly allocated). RESULTS: Thirty-three per cent of
the recruited participants were unable to complete the trial. The resulting N was
therefore smaller than was necessary for adequate power. The remaining data
showed that maximum pain and well-being were improved from baseline under verum
but not placebo. More participants improved on all variables with verum than
placebo. CONCLUSION: Electromagnetic field shielding produced beneficial effects
in those participants who could tolerate the liner. It is suggested that this
might be due to protection of vulnerable nerve endings from nociceptive effects
of environmental electromagnetic fields. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Electromagnetic
field shielding with a suitable limb/prosthesis interface can be considered a
useful technique to improve pain and well-being in patients with phantom limb pain.
CI - (c) The International Society for Prosthetics and Orthotics 2015.

Langue : ANGLAIS