Non-painful phantom limb phenomena in amputees: incidence, clinical characteristics and temporal course

58 patients undergoing limb amputation mainly because of peripheral vascular disease were interviewed by means of a standard questionnaire and examined 8 days, 6 months and 2 years after limb amputation regarding non-painful phantom limb phenomena. During the follow-up period, 41% of patients died. The incidence of phantom limb 8 days, 6 months and 2 years after limb loss was 84%, 90% and 71%, respectively. Phantom limb phenomena changed within the first half year after amputation from a mainly proximal and distal distribution to a mainly distal localized sensation. While approximately 3/4 of patients with phantom limb had kinaesthetic sensations in the limb (i.e. feeling of length, volume or other spatial sensation) during the first 6 months after amputation, less than 50% of patients had this later in the course; 30% of patients noticed a clear shortening of the phantom limb during the follow-up period. While the incidence of phantom limb did not decrease during the follow-up period, both the duration and frequency of phantom limb phenomena declined significantly. The distribution of non-painful and painful phantom limb did not differ significantly from each other. The present findings suggest that mechanisms both in periphery, spinal cord and brain participate in generating the phantom limb percept.