Efficacy of mirror therapy for phantom limb sensation and phantom limb pain in amputee: A systematic review

Objective To systematically evaluate the efficacy of mirror therapy for phantom limb sensation and phantom limb pain in amputee. Methods Databases include PubMed, EMbase, The Cochrane Library (Issue 9, 2015), CBM, CNKI, VIP and WanFang Data were searched to collect randomized controlled trials (RCTs) about mirror therapy for phantom limb sensation and phantom limb pain in amputee from inception to 1^st Sept. 2015. Two reviewers independently screened literature, extracted data and assessed the methodological quality of included studies. Then metaanalysis was performed using RevMan 5.3 software. Results A total of 5 RCTs involving 129 patients were included. The results of meta-analysis showed that, there was no significant difference between the mirror therapy group and the control group in relieving the phantom limb sensation and phantom limb pain in amputee (MD= –7.29, 95%CI –27.73 to 13.16, P=0.48). Conclusion Mirror therapy could improve the control of phantom limb, however, there is no sufficient evidence to support the effect of mirror therapy on pain management in amputee. The long-term effect of mirror therapy is still under exploration. Due to the limited quantity and quality of the included studies, larger-sample, high quality designed RCTs are needed to verify the above conclusion.