Exam 3: Lecture 17 - Chronic Pain Management Flashcards
(94 cards)
Where does pain start in the pain signaling pathway?
-Pain starts at the nerve endings (or nociceptors)
When the nerve endings are activated in the pain signaling pathway, that is considered ______
Transduction
What happens after transduction in the pain signaling pathway?
-Signal is transmitted through long sensory nerve fibers up to the spinal cord, passing through the dorsal root ganglion on the way -> go up to second order neurons -> perception (awareness of pain)
What is often thought of as the first location in the pain signaling pathway to modulate pain?
-The dorsal cord of the spinal cord
What is an important receptor in the spinal cord that is plugged with Mg unless excited, and is responsible for increasing glutamate flux in the dorsal horn of the spinal cord & therefore increases calcium binding and ascending pain impulses
-NMDA receptor
What can affect how we feel pain?
-Genetics & past experiences
T/F: The amplification pattern in the NMDA receptor excitation can become a pain symptom in itself
True!
How can pain affect movement?
-We tend to move the body differently if we are in pain
-So, we compensate for painful or still regions, which can lead to additional problems
What problems can compensation of pain by movement lead to?
-Support limb OA
-Myofascial strain patterns
-Tendon & ligament injury
-Altered body awareness & increased tendency toward additional injury
What condition do we study when we are studying chronic pain because it is the “easiest” in patients who cannot speak?
-OA (osteoarthritis)
There is a balance of what mediators in the immune system normally (at homeostasis)?
-Pro-inflammatory & anti-inflammatory mediators
In chronic pain, what immune system balance becomes hard to maintain (specifically)
-Balance of pro-inflammatory & anti-inflammatory mediators
-Normally expect inflammation to rise to take care of problem then expect body to pull it back together & bring it back to normal, but in chronic pain it becomes harder for the body to bring back that inflammation
Because it is harder for chronic pain patients to balance pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory mediators, what drug type has fallen from favor as increasingly specific targets become available?
-Broad anti-inflammatories (steroids)
What else can also be acting on the immune system in chronic pain patients?
-Age
-A lot of chronic pain is occurring in our older patients
What is an important organ system to chronic pain that is often overlooked, but growing rapidly in appreciation & research?
-Fascia (really the biggest “organ” system in the body
What does fascia connect?
-Deeper & broader bands connecting muscles & tendons
-The connection between bones
-“Interstitium” around organs & vessels (fluid in which all lymphatics & fluids not in vessels live)
What role is fascia important for in chronic pain?
-Body awareness
-Unity
-Fluid balance
-Connecting the fluids back to the vascular space & thoracic duct
-Surrounding all of the organs in the body
Why is fascia important?
-Can contract & modulate body in terms of mechanosensory fine tuning
-Help w/ reflex arcs that protect joints & help run the kenematics of motions
When you don’t use your fascia enough (ex: sitting for long flight) it can become ______ which ______
-“sticky” which compounds pain & dysfunction
When fascia is not working properly you lose _____ as well
body awareness
Any inflammation in the connective tissue can lead to ____ and lack of use
Stickiness
What is really the home of the immune system?
-The connective tissue
What is the scaffolding & structural support of caner cells and tumors?
-The connective tissue
____ improves gait, mechanical sensitivity, and connective tissue inflammation in a rodent model
-Stretching of the back