Ch 35 Comfort And Pain Management Flashcards
(40 cards)
Acute pain
Episode of pain that lasts from seconds to less than six months
Addiction
A pattern of compulsive use of addictive substances for means other than those prescribed
Adjuvant
Drugs typically used for other purposes, but also used to enhance the effect of opiates by providing additional pain relief
Analgesic
Pharmaceutical agent used to relieve pain
Breakthrough pain
Temporary flareup of moderate to severe pain that occurs when the patient is taking around the clock medication for persistent pain
Chronic pain
Episode of pain last for six months longer; maybe intermittent or continuous
Cutaneous pain
Superficial pain Usually involving the skin or subcutaneous tissue
Dynorphin
The endorphin having the most potent Analgesic affect
Endorphins
Morphine like substance released by the body that appear to alter the perception of pain
Enkephalins
Opioids that are widespread throughout the brain and the dorsal horn of the spinal cord and believed to reduce pain sensation by inhibiting the release of substance P
Exacerbation
Period in chronic illness when the symptoms of the disease reappear
Gate control theory
Theory that explains that excitatory pain stimuli carried by small diameter nerve fibers can be blocked by inhibiting signals carried by large diameter nerve fibers
Intractable
Severe pain that is extremely resistant to relief measures
Modulation
Process by which the sensation of pain is inhibited or modified
Neuromodulators
Endogenous opiate chemical regulators that appear to have Analgesic activity and alter pain perception
Neuropathic pain
Pain that results as a direct consequence of a lesion or disease affecting abnormal functioning of the peripheral nervous system PNS are central nervous system CNS
Neuro transmitters
Substances that either excite or inhibit target nerve cells
Nociceptive pain
Pain from a normal process that results and noxious stimuli being perceived as painful
Nociceptors
Pain receptors
Opioid
More correct term for narcotic analgesics, isince these drugs act by binding to opiate receptor sites in the central nervous system
Pain threshold
Amount of stimulation required before a person experiences the sensation of pain
Pain tolerance
Point Beyond which a person is no longer willing to endure pain i.e. pain of greater duration or intensity
Perception
Conscious process of organizing and interpreting data from the senses into meaningful information
Phantom pain
Sensation of pain without demonstratable physiologic or pathologic substance; commonly observed after the amputation of a limb