Bilateral Lower Limb Amputee with Dhat Syndrome

Abstract

ABSTRACT Introduction Dhat syndrome is a clinical entity mostly seen in Southeast Asia. The patient suffering from this syndrome commonly presents with features of depression, anxiety, multiple nonspecific somatic symptoms, and impairment of concentration, which are attributable to semen loss. Case report The case that we present here is of a 32-year-old patient with (right) transtibial and (left) transfemoral amputation. Patient presented with following complaints within 10 days of postamputation surgery. He complained of anxiety, low mood, anhedonia, decreased sleep, reduced appetite, and whitish discharge while passing urine. All the blood investigations and ultrasound of the whole abdomen were normal. The patient was prescribed sertraline 50 mg half H.S. for 3 days, followed by 50 mg one H.S. zolpidem (10 mg H.S.), and syrup cyproheptadine [2 teaspoonful (TSF) night time only (HS)] for a period of 2 weeks. Psychoeducation was also given on a daily basis during this duration. Significant improvement was seen in the above complaints after 1 week of medication. Conclusion Patients with lower limb amputation mostly suffer with depression, but development of features of Dhat syndrome along with this indicates the emotional and psychological impact of amputation on such patients, which often goes unnoticed. Every amputee should be given psychological rehabilitation after such an adverse episode of their life. How to cite this article Srivastava MK, Gupta AK. Bilateral Lower Limb Amputee with Dhat Syndrome. Indian J Phy Med Rehab 2017;28(2):71-73.