Use of Yamamoto New Scalp Acupuncture for Treatment of Chronic, Severe Phantom Leg Pain

What is it about?

Background: Phantom limb pain (PLP) occurs in up to 85% of patients who have amputations and significantly worsens their quality of life. PLP is extremely difficult to treat, and common pain treatment is rarely effective. This case report describes the use of Yamamoto New Scalp Acupuncture (YNSA) to treat chronic severe PLP. Case: A 59-year-old man presented to an outpatient pain clinic with a chief complaint of chronic severe PLP after the left-femoral lower-third amputation that he had 21 years before. Intervention: YNSA was performed on the points representing the cranial nerves. Main Outcome Measures: PLP intensity, duration, and frequency were monitored to determine if the patient gained any pain relief from YNSA. Results: During the week after the thirteenth YNSA session, the patient reported a decrease in PLP intensity from 9 – 1 before the treatment to approximately 1 or no PLP at all. Following the sixteenth YNSA session, the patient reported a decrease in the average duration of PLP (0.5 – 0.25 minutes) from approximately 13 – 11 hours to 30 seconds per incidence, with an intensity of approximately 1. After the twenty-fourth session, the patient reported a sustained reduction of approximately 50% in the frequency of PLP episodes. Conclusions: This is the first case report on the effective use of YNSA for the treatment of chronic severe PLP.

Featured Image

Why is it important?

The results of the present case report show a substantial effect of YNSA treatment on chronic severe PLP. To date, this is the first case report on the effective use of YNSA for treating chronic severe PLP.

Perspectives