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Methadone for phantom limb pain
Lonneke Bergmans1, Dirk G Snijdelaar, Joel Katz
1Pain Center, Department of Anesthesiology, University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
Objective:
The objective of this case series was to determine if severe phantom limb pain could be reduced with oral methadone.
Design:
Four cases of phantom limb pain refractory to multiple treatment modalities were treated with oral methadone.
Setting:
Pain clinic at a major university medical center.
Patients:
Four patients with severe, intractable phantom limb pain.
Intervention:
Oral methadone was administered, starting with a low dose of 2 to 5 mg twice a day or three times a day and slowly titrated upward to achieve pain relief.
Outcome Measures:
Repeated administration of a visual analog scale for pain.
Results And Conclusions:
Administration of oral methadone may be of value in the treatment of phantom limb pain; controlled clinical trials would be appropriate to verify this observation.