1. Definition: Pain •The International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) defines pain as:
•An unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or po-
tential tissue damage, or described in terms of such damage.
•Acute pain: Pain that is of short duration and resolves, usually directly related to
the resolution or healing of tissue damage.
•Chronic pain: Pain that persists for longer than would be expected.
2. Peripheral vs
Central Pain
3. Pain Threshold •Pain threshold
and Tolerance •The point at which that stimulus is experienced as pain
•Differs from person to person
•Pain tolerance
•the duration of time or the intensity of pain that a person will endure before taking
overt action to relieve the pain
•Decreases with repeated exposure to pain
•decreased by fatigue, anger, fear, and sleep deprivation
•
4. Physical Depen- •Physical dependence
dence & Addic- •Abstinence syndrome with abrupt discontinuation
tion •About 10 hours after last dose:
•Initial reaction (yawning, rhinorrhea, sweating)
•Progresses to:
•Violent sneezing, weakness, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal cramps, bone
and muscle pain, muscle spasm, kicking movements
•Lasts 7-10 days if untreated
•Withdrawal unpleasant but not lethal, as is possible with CNS depressants
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, NURS 752:
•NOT equated with addiction
•Addiction
•Behavior pattern characterized by continued use of a psychoactive substance
despite physical, psychologic, or social harm
•Balance the need to provide pain relief with desire to minimize abuse.
5. Neurological Ba- •Anatomy
sis of Pain •Afferent pathways
•Efferent pathways
•Physiology
•Tissue injury results in the production of arachidonic acid
•cyclooxygenase (COX) is needed to produce prostaglandins
•Prostaglandins lead to stimulation of nociceptors
•Neuropeptides associated with local pain and inflammation
•Norepinephrine and serotonin modulate pain in the medulla and pons
•
•
6. Acute Pain •Less than 6 months
•Acute somatic
•Arises from connective tissue, muscle, bone and skin
•Acute visceral
•Pain in the internal organs and abdomen
•Referred pain
•Pain that is present in an area removed or distant from its point of origin
•
7. Acute pain à Cen-
tral Sensitization
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