Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of Eye Movements of Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy in the treatment of the phantom limp pain.
Method: Participants of this study consist of amputation applied 14 inpatients in the Orthopaedics and Traumatology Department of Gülhane Military Hospital. Amputation was applied to four patients with diabetic foot and ten patients with trauma. Five patients had three sessions , eight patients had five sessions and two patients had six sessions of EMDR applications. The treatment was ended when patients expressed that they were not in pain. Following amputation, McGill Melzack Pain Questionnaire, State Anxiety Inventory (STAI-I), the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and the Symptom Checklist (SCL-90-R) were applied at the end of the first week before EMDR applications and just after the EMDR applications. These tests were given to the patients who were invited to control again after one month and three months. The SCL-90-R was applied again in the third month control.
Results: It was seen that phantom pain significantly decreased before the treatment, among shortly after, one month and 3 months later controls.
Conclusion: In this study, EMDR therapy has been found to provide a significant improvement over the phantom pain. Based on the findings, EMDR therapy has been shown effective with early application on phantom pain.
Key words: EMDR, pain, phantom pain, trauma
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