Hip sonography must be trained by authorized teachers. The quality of the sonograms must be controlled according to checklists. The bedside teaching without control leads to a systematic teaching of mistakes and finally catastrophes.

Exact differentiation into stump and phantom pain is required when pain is reported after amputation. In a majority of cases appropriate treatment can improve the pain. Thermography is simple and gives a good indication of the circulation in the stump without operative intervention. It provides a key to the nature of the pain in stump and phantom. Although typical patterns occur for pain in the stump or phantom, in this study the thermographic image could confirm the presence of phantom pain, but it could not rule out errors or false statements.