Comfort & Pain Mgmt Flashcards
Acute pain
Episode of pain that lasts from seconds to less than 6 months
Chronic pain
Episode of pain that lasts for 6 months or longer; may be intermittent or continuous
Cutaneous pain
Superficial pain usually involving the skin or SQ tissue
Endorphins
Morphine-like substances released by the body that appear to alter the perception of pain
Exacerbation
Period in chronic illness when the symptoms of the disease reappear
Gate control theory
Theory that explains that excitatory pain stimuli carried by small-diameter nerve fibers can be blocked by inhibiting signals carried by large-diameter nerve fibers
Intractable
Severe pain that is extremely resistant to relief measures
Neuropathic pain
Pain that results as a direct consequence of a lesion or disease affecting abnormal functioning of the PNS or CNS
Phantom pain
Sensation of pain without demonstrable physiologic or pathological substance; commonly observed after the amputation of a limb
Psychogenic pain
Pain for which no physical cause can be identified
Referred pain
Pain in an area removed from that in which stimulation has its origin
Somatic pain
Pain originating in structures in the body’s external wall
Visceral pain
Pain originating in the internal organs in the thorax, cranium or abdomen
Examples of non-pharmacologic relief measures
Distraction, humor, music, imagery, relaxation, cutaneous stimulation, massage, heat/cold, acupressure, TENS
Breakthrough pain
Temporary flare-up of moderate to severe pain that occurs even when the patient is taking around-the-clock medication for persistent pain
Factors affecting pain experience
Culture Ethnicity Family, gender, age Religious beliefs Environment, support people Anxiety, other stressors Past pain experience
Four processes involved in pain
Transduction
Transmission
Perception of pain
Modulation of pain
Transduction
Activation of pain receptors
Conversion of painful stimuli into electrical impulses
periphery > spinal cord (dorsal horn)
Transmission of pain stimuli
Pain sensations from the site of an injury/inflammation are conducted along pathways to the spinal cord and then to higher centers
Perception of pain
Sensory process that occurs when a stimulus for pain is present (including interpretation of pain)
Pain threshold
Minimum intensity of a stimulus that is perceived as painful
Modulation of pain
Process by which the sensation of pain is inhibited or modified
Gate Control Theory
Describes the transmission of painful stimuli
I.E. massage/warm compress to pained lower back stimulates large nerve fibers to “close the gate” thus blocking nerve impulses from that area
Breakthrough pain
Temporary flare-up of moderate to severe pain that occurs even when the patient is taking around-the-clock medication for persistent pain
