Body representation among adults with phantom limb pain: Results from a foot identification task

AbstractBackgroundImpaired body representation (i.e. disrupted body awareness or perception) may be a critical, but understudied, factor underlying phantom limb pain (PLP). This cross‐sectional study investigated whether adults with lower‐limb loss (LLL) and PLP demonstrate impaired body representation as compared to Pain‐Free peers with and without LLL.MethodsParticipants (n = 41 adults with PLP, n = 27 Pain‐Free peers with LLL, n = 39 Controls with intact limbs) completed an online foot identification task. Participants judged whether randomized images depicted left or right feet (i.e. left–right discrimination) as quickly as possible without limb movement. Using two Generalized Estimating Equations, effects of group, image characteristics (i.e. side, foot type, view, angle) and trial block (i.e. 1–4) were evaluated, with task response time and accuracy as dependent variables (a ≤ 0.050).ResultsAdults with PLP demonstrated slower and less accurate performance as compared to Controls with intact limbs (p = 0.018) but performed similarly to Pain‐Free peers with LLL (p = 0.394). Significant three‐way interactions of group, view and angle indicated between‐group differences were greatest for dorsal‐view images, but smaller and angle‐dependent for plantar‐view images. While all groups demonstrated significant response time improvements across blocks, improvements were greatest among adults with PLP, who also reported significant reductions in pain intensity.ConclusionsAdults with PLP demonstrate body representation impairments as compared to Controls with intact limbs. Body representation impairments, however, may not be unique to PLP, given similar performance between adults with and without PLP following LLL.SignificanceFollowing lower‐limb loss, adults with phantom limb pain (PLP) demonstrate impaired body representation as compared to Controls with intact limbs, evidenced by slower response times and reduced accuracy when completing a task requiring mental rotation. Importantly, 80% of participants with pre‐task PLP reported reduced pain intensity during the task, providing compelling evidence for future investigations into whether imagery‐based, mind‐body interventions have positive effects on PLP.