Pain Flashcards
Definition of pain
An unpleasant sensory/emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage or described in terms of such damage
What is the duration of acute pain?
Less than 3 months
What is the duration of chronic pain?
More than/equal to 3 months
What are the 3 mechanisms of pain?
Nociceptive pain
Neuropathic pain
Nociplastic pain
What are the two causes of chronic pain?
Chronic Primary Pain
Chronic Secondary Pain
Describe the qualities of acute pain.
Pain of recent onset/probable limited duration
Useful life sustaining function
Facilitated healing through immobilization
Uncomplicated psychological processing/social appearance
Describe the qualities of chronic pain.
Pain persisting beyond healing of injury
Often no identifiable cause
Pain lasting for more than 3 months
What is nociceptive pain?
Arises from physical/potential damage to the body, reported from nociceptors to the brain by the nervous system.
Typically changes with movement, position and load
What are examples of nociceptive pain?
Bee stings, burns, tumors, inflammatory arthritis
Describe neuropathic pain.
Arises from damage to the nervous system (central or peripheral) either from disease, injury or pinching.
What are examples of neuropathic pain?
Mechanical insults (hitting your funny bone) Multiple sclerosis, chemotherapy, alcoholism, phantom limb pain
What does neuropathic pain often feel like?
Stabbing, electrical, burning
What is nociplastic pain?
Arises from altered nociception
No clear evidence of actual or threatened tissue damage causing the activation of peripheral nociceptors
No evidence for disease or lesion of the somatosensory nervous system causing the pain
What are examples of nociplastic pain?
Fibromyalgia (FMS), CRPS (complex regional pain syndrome)
Describe chronic primary pain.
Pain in more than/equal to one anatomical regions.
Associated with significant emotional distress/functional disability & that cannot be accounted for by another chronic pain condition.
List examples of chronic primary pain.
Chronic widespread pain or fibromyalgia Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) Migraines Temporomandibular disorders (TMD) Visceral (E.g. IBS) Musculoskeletal (non-specific LBP)
Describe chronic secondary pain.
Pain linked to other diseases as underlying cause
List examples of chronic secondary pain.
Cancer/cancer treatment
Persisting pain after normal healing time after surgery
Neuropathic pain (e.g. after stroke, diabetic neuropathy)
Orofacial/headache e.g. after injury/substances abuse
Musculoskeletal - disease process affecting bones, joints, muscles, related soft tissue (e.g. rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis)
List the temporal patterns of chronic pain
Persistent
Intermittent
Persistent with overlaid attacks
Describe the difference between cancer and non-cancer pain.
Cancer pain is progressive, may be mixture of acute/chronic
What is nociception?
Neural process of encoding noxious stimuli
What is a noxious stimulus?
A stimulus that is damaging or threatens damage to normal tissues
What is a nociceptor?
High-threshold sensory receptor of the peripheral somatosensory nervous system that is capable of transducing and encoding noxious stimuli
Describe the organization of the sensory pathway.
Receptor (nociceptor): signal transduction
Primary afferent neuron: periphery to ipsilateral spinal cord
Second-order neuron:: to integrative centers in the thalamus
Third-order neuron: thalamus to higher centers
What is the function of the premotor/motor cortex?
Organize/prepare movements
What is the function of the cingulate cortex?
Concentrating/focusing
What is the function of the prefrontal cortex?
Problem solving/memory
What is the function of the amygdala?
Fear, fear conditioning, addiction
What is the function of the sensory cortex?
Sensory discrimination
Describe the function of the hypothalamus/thalamus.
Stress response, autonomic regulation, motivation
What is the function of the cerebellum?
Movement and cognition
List the function of the hippocampus.
Memory spatial cognition, fear conditioning
What is the function of the spinal cord?
Gating from the periphery
What does the sympathetic nervous system do?
Increases HR, mobilize energy, increase vigilance, sweat
What is the function of the motor system?
Run away, fight, protect the damaged area
What does the endocrine system do?
Mobilize energy stores, reduce gut and reproductive activity