A patient who had an amputation of his lower leg comes to the clinic with a complaint of pain. He asks, "How I can be feeling pain in my foot-my foot is gone?" What is the appropriate response from the nurse?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

"Stimulation of nerves from your leg sends impulses to the brain so that you feel pain even though your leg is no longer there" is a definition of phantom pain. "After your amputation, pain perception increases" is a definition of pain threshold. "Amputating your leg caused abnormal processing of sensory input by the peripheral nervous system" is a definition of neuropathic pain. "When sensory nerves enter the spinal cord, they stimulate nerves from unaffected organs in the same spinal cord segment as those neurons in areas where injury or disease is located" is a definition of referred pain.

A Patient Who Had an Amputation of His Lower Leg