What is pain?
an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or
potential tissue damage
Pain is often called?
5th vital sign. (assess upon admission and regularly)
Types of pain?
neuropathic, acute, chronic, central, phantom, psychogenic pain
neuropathic pain
pain that is processed abnormally by the nervous system due to damaged
peripheral nerves or pain-processing centres
acute pain
pain that is felt suddenly from injury, disease, trauma, or surgery
chronic pain
episode of pain that lasts for 6 months or longer; may be intermittent or
continuous
central pain
lesion in brain or spinal cord causing bursts ir impulses
phantom pain
syndrome occurring after amputation
Noiceptors
pain receptors
What are the two categories of nociceptive pain?
, somatic and visceral
somatic pain
caused by mechanical, chemical, thermal, or electric injuries and originates
from muscle, bone, joints, tendons, or blood vessels
visceral pain
pain originating in the internal organs that are diseased or injured
What are two types of somatic pain?
superficial and deep
Four phases of pain transmission
transduction, transmission, perception, modulation
transduction
injured tissue releases a variety of chemicals that propagate a pain message
along sensory afferent nerve fibers to the spinal cord
Transmission
The pain impulse movies from the spinal cord to the brain via ascending fibers
within the spinothalamic tract that terminate in the brain stem and the thalamus
Perception
Conscious awareness of painful sensation
Only when the noxious stimuli are interpreted by the higher cortical structures
(brain stem and thalamus), can be identified as pain
Modulation
When the pain message is inhibited
Pathways from the brain stem to the spinal cord produce neurotransmitters that
slow down or impede the impulse
Factors that influence pain
Pain tolerance is the amount of pain a person can tolerate before responding to it
The ability to tolerate pain may be decreased by:
an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or
potential tissue damage
Pain is often called?
5th vital sign. (assess upon admission and regularly)
Types of pain?
neuropathic, acute, chronic, central, phantom, psychogenic pain
neuropathic pain
pain that is processed abnormally by the nervous system due to damaged
peripheral nerves or pain-processing centres
acute pain
pain that is felt suddenly from injury, disease, trauma, or surgery
chronic pain
episode of pain that lasts for 6 months or longer; may be intermittent or
continuous
central pain
lesion in brain or spinal cord causing bursts ir impulses
phantom pain
syndrome occurring after amputation
Noiceptors
pain receptors
What are the two categories of nociceptive pain?
, somatic and visceral
somatic pain
caused by mechanical, chemical, thermal, or electric injuries and originates
from muscle, bone, joints, tendons, or blood vessels
visceral pain
pain originating in the internal organs that are diseased or injured
What are two types of somatic pain?
superficial and deep
Four phases of pain transmission
transduction, transmission, perception, modulation
transduction
injured tissue releases a variety of chemicals that propagate a pain message
along sensory afferent nerve fibers to the spinal cord
Transmission
The pain impulse movies from the spinal cord to the brain via ascending fibers
within the spinothalamic tract that terminate in the brain stem and the thalamus
Perception
Conscious awareness of painful sensation
Only when the noxious stimuli are interpreted by the higher cortical structures
(brain stem and thalamus), can be identified as pain
Modulation
When the pain message is inhibited
Pathways from the brain stem to the spinal cord produce neurotransmitters that
slow down or impede the impulse
Factors that influence pain
Pain tolerance is the amount of pain a person can tolerate before responding to it
The ability to tolerate pain may be decreased by:
