Targeted Muscle Reinnervation as a Surgical Approach for Phantom Limb Pain Management Following Amputation

AbstractPurpose of ReviewThe goal of this paper is to review the current literature on targeted muscle reinnervation (TMR). This procedure has been developed over the past decade and has the potential to create intuitive and rapid control of prosthetics while also treating phantom limb and residual limb pain.Recent FindingsIn 2019, two major articles changed the way we understand the effects of the procedure. One was a randomized control trial by Dumanian et al. (Annals of Surgery 270(2):238 –246, 2019) that showed that TMR improved phantom limb pain to a statistically significant degree. The other was a well-designed study by Valerio et al. (Journal of the American College of Surgeons 228(3):217 –226, 2019) that revealed the incredible power of performing TMR at the time of amputation. Another article by Chang et al. (Plastic and reconstructive surgery 148(2):376 –386, 2021) published in 2021 found that TMR improves ambulation rates when compared to standard treatment.SummaryTMR is a well-studied operation that will not only treat residual and phantom limb pain, reduce opioid dependence, and improve ambulation, but also has the potential to foster intuitive control of prosthetics.
Source: Current Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Reports - Category: Rehabilitation Source Type: research