Pain Management Flashcards
Definition: Physiologic pain
Normal response to a noxious stimulus producing protective behavioral responses to potential actual tissue damage
Definition: Acute pain
Sudden onset of pain which may be severe but disappears when stimulus is removed
Definition: Chronic pain
Pain that lasts several weeks to months and persists beyond the expected healing time
Definition: Somatic pain
Originates from damage to bone, joint, muscle, or skin; well localized
Definition: Visceral pain
Originates form internal organs; poorly localized
Definition: Neuropathic pain
Originates from injury to the peripheral or central nervous system
Definition: Inflammatory pain
Originates from tissue damage
Definition: Referred pain
Originates from one part of the body but perceived as occurring in another
What is the pain pathway?
- Transduction- activation of receptors
- Transmission- communication of fibers
- Modulation- modification by the spinal cord
- Perception- conscious recognition of pain
What do mechanoreceptors respond to?
Stretching, compression, or crushing
What do thermoreceptors respond to?
Heat and cold
What do chemoreceptors respond to?
Chemicals- endogenous or exogenous
What are the two types of peripheral nerves that conduct pain?
A-delta fibers and C fibers
What kind of transmission do A-delta fibers perform?
Myelinated, fast transmission
Acute, accurately localized, sharp, rapid onset pain
What kind of transmission do C fibers perform?
Non-myelinated, slow transmission
Chronic, diffuse, dull, burning, aching pain
Describe the spinal cord pathway of pain
Afferent fibers (A-delta or C) –» Spinal cord through dorsal root –» Synapse in Lamina II in dorsal horn grey matter –» ascend via spinothalamioc and spinoreticular tracts –» brain
What is the primary excitatory/facilitory substances in the spinal cord and what are their receptors?
Substace P- NK1 receptor
Glutamate- AMPA, NMDA, kainate receptors
What is the primary inhibitory substances in the spinal cord?
GABA
endogenous opioids
Where does the spinothalamic tract terminate?
In the thalamus and somatosensory cortex