Week 10 Flashcards

(23 cards)

1
Q

What is pain?

A

“An unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with, or resembling that associated with, actual or potential tissue damage”

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2
Q

What is nociception?

A

The neural process of encoding noxious stimuli
- Noxious stimuli = a stimulus (e.g. mechanical, thermal, or chemical) that is damaging or threatens damage to normal tissue

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3
Q

What is the difference between pain and nociception?

A

Nociception (INPUT) = noxious stimuli activates nociceptors and sends a message to the CNS (spinal cord and brain).

Pain (OUTPUT) = Interpretation of this message as being harmful or potentially harmful. The perception of an aversive or unpleasant sensation arising from a specific region of the body.

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4
Q

In order for nociception to occur, what 4 physiological processes must occur?

A
  1. Transduction
  2. Conduction
  3. Transmission
  4. Perception
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5
Q

What is transduction?

A

Conversion of a noxious stimulus into an action potential in the peripheral terminals of sensory fibers.

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6
Q

What is conduction?

A

The passage of action potentials from the periphery along axons towards the central nervous system

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7
Q

What is transmission?

A

The synaptic transfer of input from one neuron to another

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8
Q

What is perception?

A

When the sensation is perceived by the brain – decides if there is pain or no pain

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9
Q

What is the role of the spinoreticular tract?

A
  • Transmission of slow pain or visceral pain (pain from organs)
  • Dull ache
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10
Q

What fibres are in the spinoreticular tract?

A
  • Predominantly C fibres
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11
Q

What is the reticular formation?

A
  • Network of nuclei in the brainstem that control things like arousal, consciousness, sleep/wake cycle and motivation
  • Projections from the spinoreticular tract go into reticular formation
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12
Q

What are the characteristics of A delta fibres?

A
  • Myelinated fibres
  • Fast, sharp, and localised pain
  • Allows for the precise localisation of pain
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13
Q

What are the characteristics of C fibres?

A
  • Unmyelinated fibres
  • Slow, dull aching or burning pain
  • Poorly localise pain
  • Connection to the thalamus, reticulum formation and limbic structures = emotional and motivational aspect of pain
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14
Q

What are the 3 ways to classify the duration of pain?

A
  1. Acute
  2. Sub-acute
  3. Chronic/persistent
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15
Q

What are the 3 ways to classify the pathology of pain?

A

1.Nociceptive pain
2.Neuropathic pain
3.Nociplastic pain

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16
Q

How long does acute pain last?

A
  • Up to 6 weeks
  • Resolves once tissue has been offloaded or healed
  • Associated with actual or potential tissue damage
17
Q

How long does sub-actue pain last?

A
  • From 4 -12 weeks
  • Associated with actual or potential tissue damage
  • Typically indicates delayed healing or complications such as infection
18
Q

How long does chronic pain last?

A
  • Pain continues beyond typical tissue healing times
  • Generally agreed to be pain persistent beyond 3-6 months
19
Q

What is nociceptive pain?

A

Pain is typically related to actual or threatened tissue damage (to non-neural tissue)

Designed to protect us from injury or harm - Caused by the activation of nociceptors and subsequent interpretation by the brain as pain.

20
Q

What is neuropathic pain?

A

Arises from abnormal neural activity secondary to disease, injury or dysfunction of the nervous system
- Pain may be felt at the site of injury or further away

21
Q

What is nociplastic pain?

A

Pain that arises from altered nociception despite no clear evidence of a stimulus that is activating nociceptors
- Absense of disease or lesion to neural tissue
- Often associated with comobidities e.g. chronic illness, stress

22
Q

What is sensitisation?

A

When the nervous system upregulates our pain response over a period of time = sensitization