Sherman R A, Sherman C J
Am J Phys Med. 1983 Oct;62(5):227-38.
Twelve hundred American amputees who are military veterans were surveyed by questionnaire about their amputations, pain sensitivity, demography, treatment history, stump problems, phantom sensations, and phantom pain. Over sixty percent responded and of these 85 percent reported significant amounts of phantom pain. This is in sharp contrast to both the literature and our clinical experience which indicate that although most amputees seen in a clinical setting report some occasional minor discomfort due to their phantoms, only between one half percent and five percent experience severe phantom pain. There was no relationship between reasons for amputation, use of prosthesis, pain sensitivity, age, years since amputation, or other demographic variables and presence of severity of phantom pain. Those respondents describing phantom pain usually had either momentary episodes of intense, debilitating pain, or virtually continuous discomfort varying in intensity but reaching debilitating levels occasionally. The fairly continuous pains were all similar in description to magnified versions of comfortable phantom sensations reported by other respondents. Few of the reported treatments were of any value.
通过问卷调查的方式，对1200名美国退伍军人截肢者进行了关于截肢情况、疼痛敏感性、人口统计学特征、治疗史、残肢问题、幻肢感觉和幻肢痛等方面的调查。超过60%的人做出了回应，其中85%的人报告有大量的幻肢痛。这与文献以及我们的临床经验形成了鲜明对比，文献和临床经验均表明，虽然在临床环境中见到的大多数截肢者报告称因幻肢而偶尔会有一些轻微不适，但只有0.5%至5%的人经历过严重的幻肢痛。截肢原因、假肢使用情况、疼痛敏感性、年龄、截肢后的时长或其他人口统计学变量与幻肢痛的存在或严重程度之间没有关联。那些描述有幻肢痛的受访者通常要么有短暂的剧烈、使人衰弱的疼痛发作，要么有强度不同但偶尔达到使人衰弱程度的几乎持续的不适。这些相当持续的疼痛在描述上都类似于其他受访者所报告的舒适幻肢感觉的放大版本。所报告的治疗方法几乎没有任何价值。
