Het communicatieplan als blauwdruk voor handelen kan in de papierversnipperaar: Wie durft te erkennen dat zich onderweg onverwachte gebeurtenissen zullen voor doen die vragen om een beslissing die je vooraf niet kon bedenken, is succesvoller. Er is behoefte aan wat meer lef. Lef om je gezond verstand te gebruiken en de onzekerheden die je pad onvermijdelijk kruisen het hoofd te bieden. En wie goed anticipeert, kan zijn beslissingen nog meetbaar maken ook. Met zo’n fijne Engelse term heet dat Decisional Accountability
PURPOSE: To analyse how decisions to dichotomise the frequency and impediment of phantom pain into absent and present influence the outcome of studies by performing a sensitivity analysis on an existing database.METHOD: Five hundred and thirty-six subjects were recruited from the database of an orthopaedic workshop and filled out a questionnaire in which the following items were assessed: demographics, side, date, level and reason of amputation, presence and frequency of phantom sensations, phantom pain and stump pain, and impediment due to phantom pain.RESULTS: The prevalence of phantom pain ranged from 7-72% when different cut off points for the frequency of phantom pain were applied. The significance of the various risk factors for the prevalence of phantom pain changed when different cut off points were applied. Only stump pain and phantom sensations were significant risk factors for all cut off points. Risk factors for the impediment of phantom pain changed when different cut off points were applied and these risk factors were different from those for the prevalence of phantom pain.CONCLUSION: The choice of cut off points influences the outcome of phantom pain studies considerably. This study provides some insight into the differences in prevalence and risk factors found in literature.
OBJECTIVE: To analyse the prevalence of phantom (limb) pain over time and to analyse factors associated with phantom (limb) pain in a prospective cohort of amputees.DESIGN: A multicentre longitudinal study.PATIENTS: One hundred and thirty-four patients scheduled for amputation were included.METHODS: Patients filled in questionnaires before amputation, and postal questionnaires six months, 1(1/2) years and 2(1/2) years to a maximum of 3(1/2) years after amputation. Preoperative assessment included patients' characteristics, date, side and level of, and reason for amputation. The follow-up questionnaires assessed the frequencies of the experienced phantom pain, prosthetic use and walking distance. The occurrence of phantom pain was defined as phantom pain a few times a day or more frequently.RESULTS: Pre- and postoperative questionnaires were available filled in by 85 amputees (33 females and 52 males). The percentage of lower limb amputees with phantom pain was the highest at six months after amputation, and of upper limb amputees at 1(1/2) years. In general, more women than men experienced phantom pain. One and a half years and 2(1/2) years after amputation the highest percentages of the lower limb amputees used their prosthesis more than 4 hours a day (66%), after that time this percentage decreased to 60%. The results of the two-level logistic regression analysis to predict phantom pain show that phantom pain was less frequently present in men (odds ratio (OR) = 0.12), in lower limb amputees (OR = 0.14) and that it decreased in due course (OR = 0.53 for 1 year).CONCLUSION: Protective factors for phantom pain are: being male, having a lower limb amputation and the time elapsed since amputation.
