Abstraet-Amputees may experience stump pain (SP), phantom limb (PL) sensations, pain, and/or a general awareness of the missing limb. The mechanisms underlying these perceptions could involve nervous system neuroplasticity and be reflected in altered sensory function of the residual limb.Since little is known about the progression of post-amputation sensory phenomena over time, we longitudinally evaluated the stability of, and relationships among: 1) subjective reports of PL sensations, pain, awareness, and SP, 2) stump tactile and tactile spatial acuity thresholds, and 3) use of a functional vs. a cosmetic prosthesis in 1l otherwise healthy individuals with recent unilateral, traumatic upper-extremity amputation. Subjects were evaluated within 6 months and at 1-3 years after amputation. Processing (Jensen et al., 1984). Many individuals also experience post-amputation pain that appears to originate in the missing limb (PL pain) and/or residual limb (stump) pain (SP), Acute post-surgical amputation pain is not surprising considering the devastating nature of the injury, which includes the severing of large peripheral nerves. However, in many individuals, post-amputation pain persists even after healing has occurred and the mechanisms underlying this persistent neuropathic pain remain enigmatic. There is evidence that both peripheral (Devor and Seltzer, 1999) and central (Mannion and Woolf, 2000) nervous system processes contribute to phantom sensory phenomena and pain, but the relative contribution of each is unclear (Melzack, 1990; Kalz, 1992b (Carlen et al., 1978)or lower extremity (Jensen et al., 1984) amputation. In a group of lower-extremity amputees measured over the first 2 years after elective amputation surgery, Jensen et al. (1984,