Intervenção fisioterápica através da Imagética Motora Graduada no Tratamento da Dor Fantasma (Crônica) em Pacientes Amputados: uma Revisão de Literatura

Abstract

Understanding the neuropsychophysiological mechanisms involved in phantom pain remains an important issue in the area of health sciences; and which method is suitable for treatment. Recent research has shown that only conventional physiotherapy techniques do not seem to reverberate satisfactorily with regard to the relief of these conditions and for a functional gain of these individuals, techniques such as graduated motor imagery (IMG) have been sought to be added to the physiotherapeutic treatment. The IMG consists of a protocol composed of three sequential steps that involve recognition of laterality, explicit motor imagery and mirror therapy exercises. The present study aimed to verify the effectiveness of IMG as an additional therapeutic intervention to the treatment of individuals with phantom (chronic) pain. A bibliographic survey was carried out in Pubmed, PEDro, Chochrane, Lilacs and Scielo databases using the Boolean descriptors: “graded motor imagery and physicaltherapy”; “graded motor imagery and chronic pain”, Graded motor imagery and pain phantom” and “graded motor imagery and rehabilitation”. Studies published from 2010 onwards were selected for this work. The results showed that IMG has been shown to be effective in reducing phantom pain when associated with conventional physical therapy treatment. Under these conditions of the study, there is an imbalance between sensory input and motor output, affecting the brain processing of this information. Thus, intervention strategies aimed at its control must be aimed at correcting this imbalance.