Comfort + Pain Management Flashcards
Is pain always what the patient says?
Yes
Pain is a personal experience based on what kinds of factors?
Psychological, biological, and social factors
Pain can have an adverse effect with-
Function + Socialization
Can pain occur in the absence of an obvious stimuli?
Yes
The process of sensory receptors responding to potentially damaging stimuli by sending nerve signals to the spinal cord and brain =
Nociception
Activated by thermal heat or cold =
Thermal Receptors
Activated by excess pressure of mechanical deformation (For example, skin incisions)
Mechanical Nociceptors
What’s detected by nociceptors and are transmitted into energy?
Noxious Stimuli
Whenever noxious stimuli is detected by nociceptors and are transmitted into energy, what is this process creating?
An Action Potential
What are pain signals transmitted from to the spinal cord and then the brain?
Nociceptors
Visceral structures are sensitive to-
Stretch, ischemia, and inflammation
What type of pain is diffuse, difficult to locate, and often referred to a distant, usually superficial, structure
Visceral Pain
What type of pain may be accompanied with nausea and vomiting. May be described as sickening, deep, squeezing, and dull =
Visceral Pain
What type of pain is initiated by stimulation of nociceptors in ligaments, bones, tendons, blood vessels, fascia, and muscles =
Deep Somatic Pain
Does deep somatic pain include sprains and broken bones?
Yes
What type of pain can be described as a dull, aching, poorly localized pain =
Deep Somatic Pain
What type of pain is started by the activation of nociceptors in the skin or other superficial tissue + is sharp, well-defined, and clearly located =
Superficial Pain
What types of injuries produce superficial pain?
Minor Wounds + Minor (1st degree) Burns
IASP =
International Association for the Study of Pain
What type of pain is defined by the IASP as caused by a lesion or a disease of the somatosensory nervous system?
Neuropathic Pain
What kind of pain is typically described by PT’s as “burning” or “like pins and needles”?
Neuropathic Pain
What disease processes can cause neuropathic pain?
Diabetes Mellitus, Strokes, and HIV
Why is neuropathic pain generally undertreated?
Because it typically doesn’t respond to analgesics (painkillers)
What meds are usually used to combat neuropathic pain?
Tricyclic Anti-depressant + Gabapentin
If pain from retained gas in the colon causes pain to be perceived in the shoulder, does that mean that the pain is considered radiating?
Yes, because it is causing pain to be perceived at a location other than the site of the painful stimulus
Nurses must consider what kinds of factors while assessing/providing holistic care for PT’s in pain?
Biological, Psychological, Social Factors