Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Percutaneous Ablation for Post-Amputation Pain

A global systematic review and meta-analysis of 20 studies on the efficacy of percutaneous ablation for residual and phantom limb pain. The review, authored by Kevin R. Murray and updated in 2026, includes data from 1 randomized control trial, 9 case series, and 10 case reports, analyzing outcomes from 228 patients. It evaluates thermal radiofrequency ablation, pulsed RFA, and cryoablation using standardized pain scales and adverse event reporting.

Use Cases

• Compare the efficacy of thermal RFA, pulsed RFA, and cryoablation based on the reported pain scale outcomes.
• Analyze adverse event rates and safety profiles of different ablation techniques based on the complication reporting.
• Assess study design and risk of bias in clinical literature on post-amputation pain based on the Joanna Briggs Institute tool evaluation.
• Model treatment response timelines for residual and phantom limb pain based on the reported outcomes at 2-week, 1-month, 4-month, and 6-month intervals.

Strengths

• Includes a meta-analysis of 20 studies with data from 228 patients, providing a quantitative synthesis.
• Reports specific weighted mean differences with confidence intervals and p-values for pain scale outcomes across multiple time points.
• Assesses studies for risk of bias using a standardized tool (Joanna Briggs Institute).
• Released under a permissive CC-BY-4.0 license for reuse.

Limitations

• The dataset is a 20.6 KB DOCX file, indicating it is a summary document rather than raw, structured data.
• Row count and column-level documentation are absent; field semantics must be inferred from the text.
• The review's conclusions note the need for further research in larger, more controlled studies, indicating limitations in the underlying evidence base.

Provenance

Source

Kevin R. Murray via figshare.

Collection Method

Systematic literature search of Medline, Embase, PubMed, and Scopus databases conducted on August 19, 2024.

Time Range

Studies included up to the search date of August 2024.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-13 05:36:34.

Geography

Global scope, referencing a global limb loss estimate.