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Evaluating Mirror Therapy Protocols in Phantom Limb Pain Clinical Trials: A Scoping Review
Katleho Limakatso1, Eithne McGowan2, Max Ortiz-Catalan3,4
1Pain Management Unit, Department of Anaesthesia and Perioperative Medicine, Neuroscience Institute, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
Journal of Pain Research
|February 12, 2025
Summary
Mirror therapy effectively reduces phantom limb pain, but inconsistent protocols hinder consistent results. Standardizing treatment could improve reliability and comparability in research.
Area of Science:
- Rehabilitation Medicine
- Neuroscience
- Pain Management
Background:
- Phantom limb pain (PLP) is a common, debilitating condition following amputation.
- Mirror therapy (MT) is a widely adopted intervention for PLP, yet its application and efficacy vary significantly.
- Lack of standardized protocols complicates the interpretation of MT's effectiveness.
Purpose of the Study:
- To conduct a scoping review of mirror therapy applications for phantom limb pain.
- To identify specific treatment characteristics associated with clinically significant pain reduction.
Main Methods:
- Systematic literature search across multiple databases (Medline, PubMed, Cochrane, etc.) up to July 2024.
- Independent screening, full-text review, and data extraction by two reviewers.
- Descriptive analysis of 32 included studies.
Main Results:
- Twenty-one of 32 studies reported clinically significant pain reduction (≥50% or 2 points on a 0-10 scale).
- Significant variability was observed in treatment setting, education, technique, exercise delivery, duration, and frequency.
- Common features were identified in effective MT studies, but no unanimous consensus on a specific protocol emerged.
Conclusions:
- Mirror therapy shows promise for phantom limb pain reduction, with several studies demonstrating significant efficacy.
- Variations in treatment components highlight the need for standardization to improve outcome consistency.
- A standardized mirror therapy protocol is crucial for enhancing research reliability, reproducibility, and facilitating comparisons in clinical trials and meta-analyses.
