Amputation, Prosthesis Use, and Phantom Limb Pain: An Interdisciplinary Perspective

The main objective in the rehabilitation of people following amputation is to restore or improve
their functioning, which includes their return to work. Full-time employment leads to beneficial
health effects and being healthy leads to increased chances of full-time employment (Ross
and Mirowskay 1995). Employment of disabled people enhances their self-esteem and
reduces social isolation (Dougherty 1999). The importance of returning to work for people
following amputation the- fore has to be considered. Perhaps the first article about
reemployment and problems people may have at work after amputation was published in
1955 (Boynton 1955). In later years, there have been sporadic studies on this topic. Greater
interest and more studies about returning to work and problems people have at work
following amputation arose in the 1990s and has continued in recent years (Burger and
Marinc ?ek 2007). These studies were conducted in different countries on all the five
continents, the greatest number being carried out in Europe, mainly in the Netherlands and
the UK (Burger and Marinc ?ek 2007). Owing to the different functions of our lower and upper
limbs, people with lower limb amputations have different activity limitations and participation
restrictions compared to people with upper limb amputations. Both have problems with
driving and carrying objects. People with lower limb amputations also have problems
standing, walking, running, kicking, turning and stamping, whereas people with upper limb
amputations have problems grasping, lifting, pushing, pulling, writing, typing, and pounding
(Giridhar et al. 2001).