engleski

Mind-body relationship in Patient with Phantom Limb Pain.

Background and Aims: Phantom pains occur when nerves that would normally innervate the missing limb cause pain. Occasionally, the pain can be made worse by stress, anxiety and weather changes. Throughout case report we examined the relationship between the phantom limb pain and chronic combatrelated posttraumatic stress disorder. Methods and Results: Patient N.P. is 56 years old, married, father of two children. Patient was injured on 9th of August 1992 by a tank bombshell and three days later his right arm and his right lower leg were amputated. He saw his friends die right next to him. Patient mentions feeling no pain while he was transported to hospital but the pain emerged after the surgical operation. Patient is suffering great pain from 1992 until today. He locates this extreme pain in the area where his right palm and right foot used to be. Psychological assessment indicate that he is a person preoccupied with obscure physical symptoms and his reactions to stress enhance those symptoms. Results indicate mild mood disturbances and the presence of two distinctive elements from the group of symptoms typically associated to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Patient was treated with antidepressant, mood stabilizer and psychotherapy. Also, we analyze his qEEG, SPECT and MR spectroscopy findings. Conclusion: In the treatment of patient with phantom limb pain and PTSD there is a need for multidisciplinary assessment and treatment because of the strong neurobiological and clinical interrelationship between somatic and psychological symptoms.

mind, patient, pain, phantom pain

nije evidentirano