Neuroma Pain After Amputation: What Cryoablation Can (and Can’t) Fix

Reading Time: 6 minutes

___

Summary:

• Hamilton Health Sciences launches Ontario’s first cryoablation program for post-amputation neuroma pain.

• Cryoablation freezes the nerve to block pain signals in a 20-minute outpatient procedure.

• Nearly 85% of the 35 patients treated saw significant pain relief or improved function.

• Patient Richard Wiens was pain-free for over a year after decades of failed treatments.

• Relief isn’t permanent; nerves regenerate, so repeat treatments may be needed.

___

Four decades ago, Richard Wiens’s left leg was amputated due to cancer. The amputation wound healed, but he continued to suffer from nerve pain severe enough to disrupt sleep for years and make prosthesis use difficult. The pain came from a neuroma, a thickened collection of nerve matter that often forms where a nerve has been cut during surgery.

Wiens tried various treatments, including medications, phenol and corticosteroid injections, and several surgeries to remove the neuroma. Despite these efforts, the nerve kept growing back. He also tried a spinal cord stimulator to block pain signals, but it didn’t help and was eventually removed.

At 80 years old, Wiens experienced relief after a 20-minute outpatient cryoablation at Hamilton Health Sciences’ Hamilton General Hospital in Ontario, Canada. This procedure provided him with more than 12 months of pain-free living—his longest stretch without pain in 40 years.

Wiens’s experience reflects typical neuroma pain after amputation. A 2021 systematic review and meta-analysis of over 6,700 lower-limb amputees found that about 15% develop a symptomatic neuroma, though the actual rate may be higher since neuromas can take years to cause symptoms and are often missed in shorter follow-ups.

What is a neuroma?   

When an amputation severs a nerve, the nerve fibers try to regrow. But instead of reattaching properly, they often form a tangled, disorganized mass named a neuroma at the wound site.

Typically, people don’t notice a neuroma until it becomes highly sensitive, causing sensations described as sharp, electric-like shocks or burning. This pain can last indefinitely and has historically been hard to treat. And its impact extends beyond physical discomfort; pain from neuromas can make weight-bearing in a prosthetic socket impossible, affecting a person’s independence.

How cryoablation works  

Cryoablation directly targets the nerve, not the pain signals. An interventional radiologist guides a thin probe into the neuroma via a small incision, using ultrasound imaging. The probe is cooled to extremely low temperatures, freezing the nerve tissue, then allowed to thaw. This freeze-thaw cycle is repeated multiple times.

The cold damages the nerve’s pain-transmitting region but mostly leaves its external structure intact. This causes the nerve to temporarily stop transmitting pain signals to the brain, but its protective sheath remains largely intact, preventing excessive nerve growth or neuroma formation. The procedure takes approximately 20 minutes; most patients go home the same day.

At Hamilton General Hospital, the radiology team partnered with the Regional Rehabilitation Center to offer cryoablation to patients suffering from neuroma pain following limb loss. The partnership provides patients with rehabilitation support to help them regain full use of their prosthesis as their pain subsides.

What it can fix  

The results so far are encouraging. Of the 35 patients treated for post-amputation pain, nearly 85% experienced pain relief.

Michelle Bisaillon, a social worker at Hamilton Health Sciences, is among them. Diagnosed at 14 with leukemia, she also went through septic shock, leading to subtotal amputation of her feet. At 18, she had a transtibial amputation due to complications in her right leg. In her twenties, a second surgery was necessary after her muscle detached from her bone. The pain-causing neuromas developed after this second surgery, not the initial amputation.

Despite ongoing pain, Bisaillon continued using her prosthesis, describing herself as too stubborn to give up. She underwent three cryoablation treatments in 2026, and she already noticed reduced pain after the first two.

For Wiens, the results were remarkable: complete pain relief lasting more than one year, improving his sleep and allowing him to finally use his prosthesis comfortably.

What it can’t fix  

Cryoablation works by freezing the nerve rather than removing it, allowing nerves to regenerate over time. As a result, the relief it offers is not permanent.

Wiens experienced more than a year of pain-free relief before symptoms reappeared and is now considering a repeat procedure. Similarly, Bisaillon’s team scheduled her three treatments months apart, recognizing that cryoablation may need to be repeated rather than seen as a one-time fix.

Furthermore, experts emphasize that the long-term effects are still uncertain because Hamilton General Hospital’s program is relatively new, and researchers are not yet sure how long relief lasts across broader patient groups or how outcomes might evolve with repeated treatments over time.

Although the success rate is about 85%, roughly one in seven patients did not experience significant relief; cryoablation is not guaranteed to work for every neuroma or patient. Additionally, access is limited. As of this writing, Hamilton General Hospital is the only hospital in Ontario that offers this type of treatment. In the US, patients can inquire with their prosthetist or consult institutions such as Emory Interventional Radiology in Atlanta, GA; the Mayo Clinic; Johns Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore, MD; or University of California Health Systems.

A new use for an established tool  

Cryoablation isn’t a new technology. Hamilton Health Sciences already offered this method to treat vascular malformations and tumors without surgery. What’s new is the target group: using it to help amputees with neuroma pain.

For patients like Wiens and Bisaillon, cryoablation has allowed them to wear their prostheses comfortably. While it doesn’t totally cure pain from neuromas, it still offers a promising option for many who have tried medications, injections, and surgery without relief. If you or anyone you know has neuromas, cryoablation is a legitimate option to discuss with your care team.  

Related Reading:

Different Types of Post-Amputation Pain

Prosthetic Rehabilitation for Lower-Limb Amputees

How to Take Care of Your Residual Limb

How A Below-Knee Amputee’s ‘Jumping Stump’ Syndrome Improved