Phantom pain is highly prevalent among American veterans with amputations, and current treatments are largely ineffective.
Questions concerning stump, phantom and other pain problems as well as demographic data were mailed to 5000 Americans whose amputations were connected with military service. Fifty-five percent responded and of these, 78% reported phantom pain. No predisposing factors, other than presence of stump pain, correlated with the presence or severity of phantom pain. Of those receiving treatment, only 1% reported lasting benefits from any of a multitude of treatments attempted.
Sherman et al. (1984) studied this question.