Medical Term Glossary- Pain Assessment

Question 1

Acute Pain

Answer 1

short-term, self-limiting, often predictable trajectory; stops after injury heals

Question 2

Allodynia

Answer 2

experience of pain after a normally non-painful tactile (e.g., from clothing) or thermal stimulus

Question 3

Breakthrough pain

Answer 3

pain restarts or escalates before next scheduled analgesic dose

Question 4

Chronic (persistent) pain

Answer 4

pain continues for 6 months or longer after initial injury

Question 5

Cutaneous pain

Answer 5

pain originating from skin surface or subcutaneous structures

Question 6

Incident pain

Answer 6

occurs predictably after specific movements

Question 7

Modulation

Answer 7

pain message inhibited during this last phase of nociception

Question 8

Neuropathic pain

Answer 8

abnormal processing of pain message; burning, shooting in nature

Question 9

Nociception

Answer 9

process whereby noxious stimuli are perceived as pain; central and peripheral nervous systems intact

Question 10

Nociceptors

Answer 10

specialized nerve endings that detect painful sensations

Question 11

Pain

Answer 11

an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage, or described in terms of such damage. Pain is always subjective.

Question 12

Perception

Answer 12

conscious awareness of painful sensation

Question 13

Referred pain

Answer 13

pain felt at a particular site but originates from another location

Question 14

Somatic pain

Answer 14

originating from muscle, bone, joints, tendons, or blood vessels

Question 15

Transduction

Answer 15

first phase of nociception whereby the painful stimulus is changed into an action potential

Question 16

Transmission

Answer 16

second phase of nociception whereby the pain impulse moves from the spinal cord to the brain

Question 17

Visceral pain

Answer 17

originating from internal organs such as the gallbladder or stomach