Analgesia Flashcards
Pain definition
An unpleasant sensory and emotional experience which we primarily associate with tissue damage or describe in terms of tissue damage or both
Inadequate pain relief
Global concern for pts and practitioners
Pain not always cured and requires continuous medical management, the same as any other disease process
How many people in the UK suffer from persistent pain?
About 40%
Around 28 million people
Pain pathway - why we feel pain (injury)
Normal –> protective
–> acute –> reflexes
–>prolonged –> inflammation and repair
(acute can –> prolonged)
Congenital insensitivity to pain
SCN9A gene mutation in humans
-Nav1.7 voltage-gated sodium channel mutations in a-subunit cause loss of function
Sources of pain
Injury
Disease
Fracture types
Oblique: diagonal break across bone
Comminuted: break in three or more pieces and fragments are present at same fracture site
Spiral: break spirals around bone (common in twisting injury)
Compound: broken bone pierces skin, causing risk of infection
Sensory pathways
Transduction: conversion of a sensory stimulus from one form to another e.g. nerve endings in skin?
Transmission: thalamus, spinal cord, sensory fibres (touch, pain)
Somatosensory cortex: perception
Limbic (amygdala): perception/ learning
Pain modulation
Emotion and attention profoundly modulate nociception
Amount of pain experienced does not necessarily relate to severity of tissue damage
Anxiety > pain transmission
Complex cultural and contextual influences
Chronic
Abnormal –> non-protective –> chronic (pain as disease)
Therapeutic goal for chronic and prolonged pain
Return sensitivity to normal thresholds without loss of protective function
NSAIDS and opioids problematic
??
Dental pain
Infection - acute inflammation
Exposed nerve endings: neurogenic pain
Swelling in confined space: pressure effects
Fear and anxiety
Treatment of pain
< tissue damage -NSAIDS (non steroidal anti inflammatory drugs) -steroids -cooling Nerve block: LA Spinal cord: opioids CNS: opioids, psychological factors
WHO cancer pain relief steps
Believe the pt History of symptoms Assessment of severity Physical examination Appropriate pain management
WHO analgesic ladder
Step 1: mild to moderate pain
-non-opioids e.g. paracetamol +/- NSAID
Moderate
-weak opioids e.g. tramadol, dihydrocodeine +/- non-opioids e.g. paracetamol +/- NSAID
Step 3: severe pain
-strong opioids e.g. morphine, diamorphine, fentanyl patch +/- non-opioids e.g. paracetamol and/ or NSAID
Co-analgesics: other drugs, nerve blocks, surgery, radiotherapy, complementary therapies, addressing psychosocial issues
Analgesic ladder assumptions
Synergism
Overall philosophy assessing severity, starting at lowest level and increasing if necessary
Joint Royal Colleges Report (1988) quality of analgesia in hospital practice is inadequate
Placebo effect
Placebo is anything administered which is pharmacologically and physiologically inert
Not ineffective therapeutically
-can have measurable effect
Reassurance and confidence in one’s therapy may also have an effect
WHO analgesic ladder: paracetamol
- mechanism
- effect
- route
- dose
Mechanism of action unknown - inhibitor of the synthesis of prostaglandins
Analgesic, antipyretic, not much anti-inflammatory effect
Oral, soluble potions, IV, rectal
1g 4-6 hourly adult dose
-4g in 24hr