Multiple pain complaints in amputees.

A group of amputees complaining of longstanding phantom pain was compared with another comparable group of non-complainers. It was found that those with phantom pain made significantly more complaints of other painful conditions, both related and unrelated to the amputation; they were also more depressed. It is suggested that this association is due to a lowered pain tolerance in the group with phantom pain complaints, and that depression is one factor contributing to this lowered tolerance.