B2 L31 Medical aspects of pain management Flashcards
What are the 4 steps in the standard medical perspective for symptom management?
- Diagnose cause (understand pathophysiology of problem)
- Develop management plan
- Review progress
- Re-evaluate
What are 2 features of acute pain?
- Indicates damage being inflicted NOW
- Demands action to prevent further damage
Acute main is one of the most ___ mechanisms. Why?
defensive mechanisms
- feel pain when injury/damage is occurring
What are 3 features of chronic pain?
- Immediate damage not necessarily being done (“useless” pain- unlike acute pain)
- Persists in spite of appropriate action to prevent further damage
- Leads to behaviour that is very counter-productive
Explain the pathway from the start (damage to tissue) to the end (managing pain). 8 steps
- Damage to tissues
- Inflammation
- Nociceptors stimulated
- Input to anterior horn
- Cross midline (decussate)
- Goes up through contralateral spinothalamic tract
- Decussate (back to original side)
- Goes down through ipsilateral side to manage pain
What are 4 features of anterior horn synapse?
- Pain agonists
- Pain antagonists
- Noxious stimulus
- Quality of message to brain
What are 2 modifications to central pathways with chronic pain?
Persistent afferent impulses, esp slow fibres:
- New pathways laid down
- NMDA sensitisation,
- damage to inhibitory neuronal paths
- leads to “wind-up”
What is wind up? How does this have an effect on medication?
Pain accelerates for no particular reason
Medication stops working, need to use more for same effect
What is the modification of pain perception?
What are 2 forms of pain?
- Incident pain
- Pain with an event – eg bathing
- PREDICTABLE
- Breakthrough pain
- Pain occurring when controlled analgesia already in place.
- Related to sudden event – eg bleed into a tumour
- UNPREDICTABLE
What is incident pain? How does that affect treatment?
- Pain with an event – eg bathing
- PREDICTABLE
- Can give dose of medication before event
What is breakthrough pain? How does that affect treatment?
- Pain occurring when controlled analgesia already in place.
- Related to sudden/unexpected event – eg bleed into a tumour
- UNPREDICTABLE
- Have a generic plan ready (to manage pain)
What are the 2 types of assessment for pain?
- Nociceptive
- Non-nociceptive
What are the 2 types of nociceptive pain?
- Somatic
- Visceral
What is somatic nociceptive pain?
skin, muscle, connective tissue are damaged (nociceptors are in tissue)
- pain is worse with movement
- pain is localised
What are the 2 types of visceral nociceptive pain?
- Solid organs
- Hollow organs
What is visceral nociceptive pain of hollow organs/
obstruction of organ
- always has muscle
- tries to push through obstruction pain comes and goes
What are the 2 types of non-nociceptive pain?
- Neuropathetic
- Non-neuropathetic
What is neuropathetic non-nociceptive pain?
nerve is damaged and still perceiving pain
What is non-neuropathetic nociceptive pain?
panic, anxiety, anticipation/fear of pain
What is total pain?
- Totality of suffering comprises physical, psychological and spiritual distress.
- One element can’t be seen in isolation.
- Each element affects the others
What are the 3 features nociceptive pain?
- Arising from stimulation of nociceptive pain receptors by “inflammatory soup”
- Found in connective tissue - skin, muscles, organ capsules, peritoneum
- Pain is locallised, worse with movement (internal movement)
What are the 4 features of neuropathic pain?
- Arises from damage to, compression of or invasion of nerves at any level of the CNS
- Burning, tingling, hypersensitivity
- Possibly dermatomal
- Not changed with movement
What are the 2 purpose of using validated tools for pain?
- Consistent reporting of pain
- Early warning of escalation
What is the aim for pain?
control acute pain to minimise risk of progression to chronic pain
What are the 4 tasks of a consultation?
- Presenting compliant(s)
- Defining the problem(s)- (Diagnosis)
- Understanding impact of problem on person
- Negotiate a management plan