. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2019 Apr 10.

Published in final edited form as: Am J Phys Med Rehabil. 2012 Aug;91(8):701–714. doi: 10.1097/PHM.0b013e3182466034

TABLE 3.

Mental imagery training for phantom limb pain among persons with amputation

Case	Condition	Treatment	Results	P
McAvinue and Robertson (2011)⁶⁵ case series (n = 4)	PLP (AKA, BKA 1.7 to 19 yrs previously) on 40-yr-old man, 45-yr-old man, 66-yr-old man, and 25-yr-old woman	Four weekly sessions of movement imagery training followed by 6 wks training on increasing the awareness of the phantom and in movement of the stump and imagined movement of the phantom; daily practice and pain diaries	All participants improved in imagery after training, although two more than the others. Through interrupted time series analysis, one of the four participants noted an improvement in PLP.	n/a
Zuckweiler (2005)⁶⁴ uncontrolled trial (n = 14)	PLP (leg, hand, finger 1–21 yrs previously); 71% male, aged 30–80 yrs	5 to 15 imagery sessions using ZIPS over 4–20 wks; ZIPS encourages precise body image and improved mind-body sensory messaging.	Significant reduction in PLP frequency at end of intervention and at 6 mos (7-point scale, χ²)	<0.001
Maclver et al. (2008)³³ uncontrolled trial (n = 13)	PLP for 3–51 yrs (arm); 11 men, 3 women	Six training sessions: guided body scan for relaxation followed by sensory and motor imagery training; participants were encouraged to practice daily with a 40-min CD and do a 10-min exercise to use without a CD.	Significant decrease in pain intensity (NRS, 7.5 of 10 to 4.0 of 10) and exacerbations (6.0 to 3.0); training resulted in reduced motor and sensory cortical reorganization (inappropriate activation of contralateral hand/arm cortical area) by fMRI	<0.001
Beaumont et al. (2011)⁶⁶ uncontrolled trial (n = 6)	PLP for 0.6–28 yrs (arm, AKA, BKA); all men, aged 32–65 yrs	Participants chose 10 of 48 movements from a video to practice with the phantom. Training (30 mins, twice weekly) over 4 wks added two movements per week to the initial 4. At home, participants practiced 30 mins with a video for an additional 4 wks.	Imagery ability improved in all but one. Four participants noted at least 30% reduction in pain after the intervention, but only one noted persistence of the improvement at 6 mos (without practice). Psychologic health appeared to be a factor in degree of improvement.	n/a

AKA, above-the knee (transfemoral) amputation; BKA, below-the-knee (transtibial) amputation; fMRI, functional magnetic resonance imaging; NRS, numeric rating scale; PLP, phantom limb pain; n/a, not applicable; ZIPS, Zuckweiler’s Image Imprinting.