Home Diseases and Conditions Painful Amputation Neuromas

Painful Amputation Neuromas

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Development Stage

Early Stage

Focused ultrasound research is in the laboratory phase and is not yet available for patients.

Clinical Trials

Focused ultrasound for this condition is being researched in clinical trials.

International Approval

Focused ultrasound is approved to treat this condition outside the US. Patients can seek commercial treatment at participating international sites.

FDA Approved

The US Food and Drug Administration has approved focus ultrasound for this condition. Patients can seek commercial treatment at participating sites.

Early Stage

Clinical Trials

International

FDA Approved

Focused ultrasound for this condition has been researched in clinical trials. However, at this time, we are not aware of any open clinical trials.

Focused Ultrasound Therapy

Focused ultrasound is a noninvasive, therapeutic technology with the potential to improve the quality of life and decrease the cost of care for patients with painful neuromas which can occur after an amputation. This is a very specific type of neuropathic pain. This novel technology focuses beams of ultrasonic energy precisely and accurately on targets deep in the body without damaging surrounding normal tissue.

How it Works
Where the beams converge, focused ultrasound produces precise ablation (thermal destruction of tissue) enabling the neuromas to be treated without surgery.

Advantages
The primary options for treatment of painful amputation neuromas include medication and invasive surgery.

For certain patients, focused ultrasound could provide a noninvasive alternative to surgery with less risk of complications – such as surgical wound healing or infection – at a lower cost. It can reach the desired target without damaging surrounding tissue and is repeatable, if necessary.

Clinical Trials

There are no clinical trials recruiting patients for post amputation stump neuroma.

The Foundation updates these pages regularly, but with the increasing number of clinical trials, we want to be sure that our audience has the latest information available. Therefore, we also added the website search information for the above trials. If you click here, it will take you to the latest information available from https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/. 

Regulatory Approval and Reimbursement

Focused ultrasound treatment for painful amputation neuromas is not approved by regulatory bodies or covered by medical insurance companies.

Notable Papers

Nachtigal A, Cozakov R, Grinfeld A, Haddad M, Eisenberg E. Feasibility of Magnetic Resonance-Guided High-Intensity-Focused Ultrasound (MRgHIFU) Ablation of Stump Neuromas for the Relief of Chronic Postamputation Neuropathic Pain. J Ultrasound Med. 2022 May 28. doi: 10.1002/jum.16026. Online ahead of print.

Prabhala T, Hellman A, Walling I, Maietta T, Qian J, Burdette C, Neubauer P, Shao M, Stapleton A, Thibodeau J, Pilitsis JG. External focused ultrasound treatment for neuropathic pain induced by common peroneal nerve injury. Neurosci Lett. 2018 Sep 25;684:145-151. doi: 10.1016/j.neulet.2018.07.037. Epub 2018 Jul 26.

Youn Y, Hellman A, Walling I, Gee L, Qian J, Burdette C, Frith L, Pilitsis JG. High-Intensity Ultrasound Treatment for Vincristine-Induced Neuropathic Pain. Neurosurgery. 2018 Feb 9. doi: 10.1093/neuros/nyx488.

Mourad PD, Friedly JL, McClintic AM, Olmstead TA, Loeser JD. Intense Focused Ultrasound Preferentially Stimulates Transected Nerves Within Residual Limbs: Pilot Study. Pain Med. 2017 Sep 7. doi: 10.1093/pm/pnx188.

McClintic AM, Dickey TC, Gofeld M, Kliot M, Loeser JD, Richebe P, Mourad PD. Intense focused ultrasound preferentially stimulates subcutaneous and focal neuropathic tissue: preliminary results. Pain Med. 2013 Jan;14(1):84-92. doi: 10.1111/j.1526-4637.2012.01510.x. Epub 2012 Nov 8.

Click here for additional references from PubMed.