Application of Ultrasound in Neuromas: Experience with Seven Below-knee Stumps

Seven below-knee amputees undergoing prosthetic training had severe pain from neuromas in their stumps. All were unable to bear adequate weight on their amputated side, consequently they walked with unequal step length and obvious limp.

Pre-treatment assessment included pain on a four-point scale, muscle strength, goniometric measurement, ability of performing ambulatory activities on a three-point scale, and measurement of spatial-temporal characteristics of gait from footprints.

In this study, patients were treated daily with an intensity of 0.5 W/cm² underwater ultrasound at a frequency of 1 MHz from a distance of 1 cm for five minutes in the continuous mode, for a total of ten treatments.

In all patients there was an immediate decrease in pain and reassessment showed improvement in gait parameters and walking. This improvement was statistically significant (p<0.05). This suggests that ultrasound can be considered a valuable modality in the treatment of neuromas.