Chapter 43 Pain Management Flashcards
Pain Experience
Involves physical, emotional, and cognitive components
Nociceptor
Sensory peripheral pain nerve fiber
Substance P
- Causes vasodilation and edema
- Found in the pain neurons of the dorsal horn (excitatory peptide)
- Needed to transmit pain impulses from the periphery to higher brain centers
Serotonin
Inhibits pain transmission
Prostoglandins
- Increase sensitivity to pain
- Generated from the breakdown of phospholipids in cell membranes
Bradykinin
- Binds to receptors on peripheral nerves, increasing pain stimuli
- Released from plasma that leaks from surrounding blood vessels at the site of tissue injury
- Binds to cells that cause the chain reaction producing prostoglandins
Neuromodulators
Body’s natural supply of morphinelike substances
Perception
The point at which a person is aware of pain
Modulation
Inhibition of the pain impulse of the nociceptive process
Pain Threshold
The point at which a person feels pain
Pain Tolerance
Level of pain a person is willing to put up with
Acute pain
Protective; has an identifiable cause, is of short duration, and has limited tissue damage and emotional response. Eventually resolves with or without treatment, after an injured area heals.
Chronic Pain
Lasts longer than anticipated, does not always have a cause, and leads to great personal suffering. Pain that last longer than 6 monthsp
Chronic Episodic Pain
Pain that occurs sporadically over an extended duration of time.
Idiopathic Pain
Chronic in the absence of an identifiable physical or psychological cause or pain perceived as excessive for the extent of an organic pathological condition
Nociceptive pain
Normal processing of stimuli that damages normal tissues or has the potential to do so if prolonged; usually responsive to nonopiods or opiods
Somatic pain
Comes from bone, joint, muscle, skin, or connective tissue. It is usually aching or throbbing in quality and is well-localized.
Visceral pain
Arises from visceral organs, such as the gastrointestinal tract and pancreas.
Neuropathic Pain
Abnormal processing of sensory input by the peripheral or CNS; treatment usually includes adjuvant analgesics.
Deafferentation Pain
Injury to either the peripheral or CNS. Example: Phantom pain reflects injury to the peripheral nervous system; burning pain below the level of the spinal cord lesion reflects injury to the CNS.
Sympathetically maintained pain
Associated with dysregulation of the autonomic nervous system. Examples: pain associated with reflex sympathetic dystrophy or causalgia (complex regional pain syndrome, types I and II)
Polyneuropathies
Patient feels pain along the distribution of many peripheral nerves. Ex: Diabetic neuropathy, alcohol-nutritional neuropathy, and Guillain-Barre syndrome
Mononeuropathies
Usually associated with a known peripheral nerve injury, and pain is felt at least partly along the distribution of the damaged nerve. Examples: Nerve root compression, nerve entrapment, trigeminal neuralgia.
Physiological factors that influence pain
Age, fatigue, genes, neurologic function
Social factors that influence pain
Attention, previous experience, family and social support, spiritual factors
Psychological factors that can influence pain
Anxiety and coping styles
Cultural factors that can influence pain
Meaning of the pain and ethnicity
Identify the ABCDE clinical approach to pain assessment and management
- Ask about pain regularly. Assess pain systematically.
- Believe the patient and family in their report of pain and what relieves it.
- Choose pain control options appropriate for the patient, family, and setting.
- Deliver interventions in a timely, logical, and coordinated fashion.
- Empower patients and their families. Enable them to control their course to the greatest extent possible.
Identify the common characteristics of pain that the nurse would assess.
- Onset and duration
- Location
- Intensity
- Quality
- Pain pattern
- Relief measures
- Contributing symptoms
- Effects of pain in the patient
- Behavioral effects
- Influence on activities of daily living
List potential or actual nursing diagnoses related to patient in pain
- Anxiety
- Fatigue
- Hopelessness
- Impaired physical mobility, Imbalanced nutrition: Less than body requirements
- Powerlessness
- Chronic Low Self-esteem
- Insomnia
- Impaired social interaction
- Spiritual distress
- Activity intolerance
- Ineffective coping
- Fear
List the patient outcomes appropriate for the patient experiencing pain
a. Patient reports that pain is a 3 or less on a scale of 0-10, does not interfere with ADL’s, or personal pain intensity goal attained.
b. Patient identifies factors that intensify pain and modifies behavior accordingly
c. Patient uses pain-relief measures safely
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) guidelines for acute pain management cite nonpharmacologic interventions appropriate for patients who meet certain criteria. List those criteria.
a. Find such interventions appealing
b. express anxiety or fear
c. Will possibly benefit from avoiding or reducing drug therapy
d. Are likely to experience and need to cope with a prolonged interval of postoperative pain
e. Have incomplete pain relief after use of pharmocologic interventions.
Relaxation as a nonpharmocologic intervention
Mental and physical freedom from tension or stress that provides individuals with a sense of self-control
Distraction as a nonpharmocologic intervention
Directs a patient’s attention to something other than pain and thus reduces the awareness of pain
Music as a nonpharmocologic intervention
Diverts the person’s attention away from the pain and creates a relaxation response.