Anaesthesia | Pain | Nociceptive Pain

Nociceptive Pain
Session Overview
Description
This session will describe how the diagnosis of nociceptive pain can be made from the patient’s history, a physical examination and other relevant investigations. The deleterious effects of unmanaged nociceptive pain will also be covered.

Learning Objectives
By the end of this session you will be able to:

• Describe the features of nociceptive pain
• List the organs and systems from which nociceptive pain may arise
• Describe the clinical inflammatory markers associated with nociceptive pain
• Identify secondary systems effects associated with nociception
• Summarize the adverse effects of acute pain

Prerequisites
Before commencing this session you should:

• Understand the neurophysiology of nociceptive pathways

Nociceptive pain is a pain associated with tissue damage.

The damage may be caused by a variety of stimuli including energy supplied in the form of:

• Mechanical pressure
• Chemicals
• Electricity
• Heat

The nociceptive pain itself and the underlying cause of pain may require independent treatment modalities.

Bone stabilization with an external fixator reduces (although rarely abolishes) the pain caused by bone fragment movement (Fig 1).

Bone stabilization is itself a traumatic injury, often requiring analgesia.