Pain trajectories in the rehabilitation from amputation
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Pain trajectories in the rehabilitation from amputation in a sample of lower limb elective surgery patients
IRAS ID
323380
Contact name
Nils Georg Niederstrasser
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Portsmouth
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Limb amputation constitutes one of the most painful experiences, due to the severity and multiple types of tissue injury involved. Pain that arises following amputation, referred to as post amputation pain (PAP), is common and represents a considerable burden in the short and long term. This pain often lasts years or even decades, but the exact duration and severity vary greatly between individuals.
There are two main forms of PAP, phantom limb pain (PLP) and residual limb pain (RLP), which can occur following amputation. Generally, RLP and PLP gradually improve over time, but the rate at which this happens may be influenced by range of factors such as amputation cause and level, age, sex, and diabetes. A similar reasoning applies to other outcome variables, such as health-related quality of life, mobility, locomotor capabilities, and falls.
This research study is a retrospective analysis of data in electronic medical records of individuals who have completed prosthetic rehabilitation following a lower limb amputation. The electronic medical record system is known as Meditech. Records of up to 100 male and female patients aged 18 years or above, referred for prosthetic rehabilitation at Portsmouth Enablement Centre following a lower limb amputation, who have completed prosthetic rehabilitation, and who have at least 9-months post amputation data available will be included. Exclusion criteria include upper limb amputees, patients who have undergone minor lower limb amputations, i.e., fore foot/ Chopart or Lis Franc amputations, and patients who were not referred for or did not undertake prosthetic rehabilitation
We propose to examine the existence of differences between patients in their pain trajectories during their post-amputation rehabilitation (9-month period) accounting for age, sex, amputation level, and amputation cause and whether these differences are associated with varying levels of health-related quality of life, locomotor capabilities, balance, mobility, and number of falls.
REC name
North West - Greater Manchester South Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
23/NW/0166
Date of REC Opinion
31 May 2023
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion