Understanding pain related behavioural changes Flashcards
What is pain?
Physiological response to a noxious stimuli
What are the 4 components of pain?
Sensory
Motor
Cognitive
Emotional
What is the most common short-term behavioural response to acute pain, for example in a veterinary exam?
Resentment of palpation
Confrontational behaviour
What is the potential long-term behavioural consequence associated with acute pain?
- Associative learning may lead to the maintenance of behavioural symptoms once the acute pain episode is over
- Classical conditioning means that any interaction or event which coincides with the experience of pain can become associated with that pain
How can you minimise the risk of post-surgical chronic pain?
- Adequate pre- peri- and post-operative analgesia
- Appropriate pre-medication and handling to improve positive (engaging) emotional bias during induction
- Appropriate handling and management of emotional state during recovery and subsequent hospitalisation
What can you use to monitor acute pain?
Glasgow composite pain scales for dogs and cats
Colorado state university feline acute pain scale
Why can it be difficult to assess pain in animals during post-op recovery and hospitalisation?
Some individuals, especially cats, may go into an inhibitive state
Dogs are often appeasing => don’t misjudge as pain-free
Is there an evolutionary bias for chronic pain?
No - chronic pain is maladaptive - a disease state
No evolutionary benefit
Give examples of factors that influence the presence of chronic pain in a population
- Surgical procedures leading to tissue damage
- Lack of disease treatment at an early stage
- Inappropriate breeding
- Inappropriate housing/environment
Explain why behavioural medicine is relevant to pain cases?
- Pain is both a physical sensation and an emotion
- Pain is perceived in the brain
- Emotional disturbance influences perception of pain
- Emotional disorders reduce available emotional capacity
What behavioural changes can occur due to the physical effects of pain?
- Gait changes
- Response to manipulation
- Reluctant to walk on certain surfaces
- Inability to access litter trays
- Compromised posture
- Excessive grooming
Name the 4 positive/engaging emotional motivations
- Desire-seeking
- Social play
- Lust
- Care
Name the 4 negative/protective emotional motivations
- Fear-anxiety
- Frustration
- Pain
- Panic-grief
The “pain system” is related to the maintenance of …?
Body integrity and function
Define inhibition
The passive gathering of information
Define appeasement
Active offering and gathering of information
When protective emotion is involved the behavioural responses are designed to …?
- Take the animal away from the stimulus
- Make the stimulus move away from the animal
- Limit the potential damage that can be caused by the stimulus
What are drainage and displacement behaviours associated with?
High emotional arousal
How might a caregiver describe an animal showing appeasement behaviours?
More clingy, interactive, seeks them out more, follows them
What can result from a caregiver ignoring appeasement behaviours?
Increased anxiety and frustration
The outward manifestation of behavioural change is dependant on which factors?
- Valence of the emotion (engaging or protective)
- Salience of the stimulus
- Emotional state of the individual
What could cause an increased level of residue in an emotional sink?
- emotional health issue (including pain)
- the emotional effects of a physical health issue
In the sink model, what are drainage behaviours represented by?
the flow of water through the plug hole and outflow pipe of the sink
What do drainage behaviours ensure?
that the residue in the sink is kept at manageable levels
A high level of emotional arousal is associated with behaviours which are termed … ?
Displacement behaviours
In the sink model, what are displacement behaviours equivalent to?
the flow of water through the overflow hole in the top of the sink
Give some examples of displacement behaviours
- Shaking as though wet
- Yawning
- Stretching
- Lip licking
Why is observation of displacement behaviours important?
They indicate that the emotional sink is reaching capacity and might overflow
