Linguo-semantic descriptors of painful sensations as a mirror therapy effectiveness criterion in trauma-related amputation

Assessment of phantom pain linguosemantic descriptors in patients with traumatic amputation during the use of mirror visual feedback is conditioned by the need to find criteria for the psychological phantom pain adjustment effectiveness. The study aimed to assess the dynamic changes in linguosemantic pain descriptors in patients with traumatic amputation showing manifestations of phantom pain syndrome as a criterion for evaluating the effectiveness of mirror visual feedback. The total sample size was 87 males post traumatic amputation of one lower limb (age 23–55 years). The research methods were as follows: Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE), original form for registering linguosemantic descriptors of phantom painful sensations, Visual Analog Scale (VAS) for phantom pain. The detected dynamic changes in linguosemantic descriptors of phantom painful sensations in patients with traumatic amputation of the limb showing manifestations of phantom pain syndrome during treatment involving the use of mirror visual feedback makes it possible to consider the following as effectiveness criteria: an increase in the number of pain descriptors represented mainly by concrete and tangible nouns (makes it possible to reduce phantom pain severity rated using a 10-point scale), as well as the increase in the number of descriptors that characterize non-painful unpleasant sensations at the linguosemantic level.