WEEK 5 Pain Concepts Flashcards
Define Pain
Sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage
What is nociceptive pain?
Associated with tissues
What are the two types of nociceptive pain?
Somatic: Connective tissue
Visceral: Organ tissue
What is neuropathic pain?
Means there is something wrong with the nervous system itself. Nerves do not generally heal very well
Identify the nervous systems x3 key areas related to the sensation and perception of pain
- Afferent pathway: Consist of nociceptors (pain receptors), afferent nerve fibres and the spinal cord network
- CNS: Portions involved in the interpretation of pain signals eg. limbic system, reticular formation
- Efferent pathways: Composed of the fibres connecting the reticular formation, midbrain and substantia gelatinosa
What are nociceptors?
Sensory receptors (nerve endings) activated by noxious stimuli, transmit impulses via C fibres and A delta fibres
Where are nociceptors distributed?
Somatic structures e.g. skin, muscles, bones
Visceral structures e.g. liver, GIT
What areas are located with the superficial somatic region?
Skin, mucus membranes, subcutaneous tissue
What areas are located with the deep somatic region?
Muscles, bones, tendons
Identify the 3 types of nerve fibres
A Delta fibres
C fibres
A Beta fibres
Describe A Delta fibres
Thinly myelinated, transmit well localised, sharp pain and sensitive to mechanical and thermal stimuli. ACUTE pain
Describe C fibres
Unmyelinated, transmit poorly localised, dull, aching pain and sensitive to mechanical, thermal and chemical stimuli. PERSISTENT pain
Describe A beta fibres
Highly myelinated, rapid conducting, respond to light touch, transmit non-noxious stimuli. GATE THEORY
Identify the 4 stages of the nocicpetive pain response
- Transduction
- Transmission
- Perception
- Modulation
Describe Transduction (Nociceptive pain response)
Response to tissue injury, release of chemical mediators e.g. Histamine, Prostaglandin, Generation of action potential
Describe Transmission (Nociceptive pain response)
Made up of three phases
1. Injury to spinal cord
2. Spinal cord to brainstem and thalamus
3. Thalamus to cortex
Describe Perception (Nociceptive pain response)
Conscious experience of pain, reticular activating system, somatosensory system
Describe Modulation (Nociceptive pain response)
Signals from brain travelling downwards, release of chemical substances, signals enhanced or inhibited, variability in pain response from gate control theory
Identify the 2 pain pathways
Ascending (sensory)
Descending (motor)
Describe the ascending (sensory) pain pathway
From nociceptors to brain, neurons with long axons ascend to brain
Describe the descending (motor) pain pathway
From the brain to spinal dorsal horn, can be modulated by gate thoeory, actions e.g. rubbing the site
What is the gate control theory?
Created by Melzack and Wall 1965, theorised the existence of a “gate” that could faciliate/inhibit transmission of pain signals
What is the pain experience dependent on? (Gate control theory)
The amount of info that gets through the gate into the brain and amount of downward signalling from brain
What faciliates opening and closing of the gate (Gate control theory)
T cells within the dorsal horn, gate can be closed by activities such as touch e.g. rubbing the injured site
What is an action potential?
Generated by voltage gated ion channels embedded in a cells plasma membrane
Identify the 2 main classifications of pain
Acute Pain and Persistent Pain
Describe acute pain
Sudden onset, mild to severe, duration dependent upon “normal healing”, If pain persists acute pain cycle may occur, Pt exhibits behaviours indicative of pain e.g. crying, rubbing
Describe chronic pain
“Chronic”, extends beyond the normal healing time, mild to severe, gradual or sudden, usually resulting from pathological processes, usually no signs of sympathetic over activity e.g. increased HR, pt appears depressed and withdrawn
Identify 3 further classifications of pain
- Nociceptive pain: Response to nociceptors, normal processing
- Neuropathic/Neurogenic: Nerve damage and abnormal processing along nerve pathway
- Somatoform (Psychogenic): Physical cause cannot be found
Identify the 5 further classifications of pain
Referred pain
Phantom pain
Cancer pain
Intractable pain
Breakthrough pain
Identify the physiological structures where somatic pain may be found (nociceptive pain)
Skin, blood, muscle, connective tissue
Identify the mechanism of somatic (nociceptive pain)
Activation of nociceptors
Describe the characteristics of of somatic (nociceptive pain)
Well localised, constant, achy, may be initially acute