Pain Flashcards
What are the 3 types of pain?
Pain is an unpleasant sensory or emotional experience. it can be actual or potential tissue damage
there are 3 types of pain: 1. Nociceptive, 2. Neuropathic, 3. Nociplastic
Nociceptive: arise from actual or threatened damage to the non-neural tissue. The pain is due to the activation of nociceptors which send signals to the spinal cord and then to the brain to be perceived
Neuropathic: from the lesion/disease (but not complete ablation) of the somatosensory nerve system: Nerve damage, can occur after a stroke.
Nociplastic: altered nociception despite no clear evidence for actual or threatened tissue damage. I.e idiopathic pain
What is the role of the PNS, SC and CNS in the perception of pain?
There are 3 major areas involved in the perception of pain: 1. Peripheral nervous system, 2. spinal cord, 3. central nervous system
Peripheral nervous system: neuropathic or nociceptive pain
Spinal cord: relays the information, processes it slightly, integrates it and reglays the information to the brain
CNS: there are no nociceptors, important for the integration of sensory information + emotional response: results in the perceived pain
Where are the cell bodies of the nociceptors?
it is the detection of noxious stimuli by sensory neurons (nociceptors): the cell bodies can be in the:
dorsal root ganglion
Nodose (ganglion of the vaigus nerve)
Trigeminal ganglia
What are the three things nociceptors detect?
the nociceptors detect actual or potential damage:
1. receptors chemical mediators: bradykinin, ATP, H+ and PGE (ATP and H+ are released from damaged cells)
2. detect change in temperature
3.mechanical force
How does inflammatino amplify pain?
inflammation is a normal protective response: it protects from further damage and increase the blood flow brings immune response
the damaged tissue + the immune cells (macrophage and mast cells) release chemical mediators in order to sensitize the nerve endings.
the sensitization of the nerve endings alters the activity channels respond to the noxious stimuli
this results in an increased activation of the nociceptors which amplifies the generator potential and now needs a lower threshold AP generation.
