The objective of this discussion is to address the physiologic cost of pain, recognition of pain, pain modulation, and treatment options. Environmental and pharmacologic treatment of pain are reviewed and preemptive analgesia is stressed. The role of tranquilization is discussed. In order to establish common ground, a few terms will be defined. Pain involves awareness, injury, and behavioral and/or biological change. It is an unpleasant experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage;pain may be acute or chronic based on onset and duration and may be superficial, deep, visceral, or psychogenic. There are three ways in which pain may be modulated: centrally (brain and spinal cord), peripherally, and reflexively. Therapeutic intervention can involve one or more of these mechanisms. Distress is a physical or mental state, which in its acute state may be relieved by tranquilizers, but chronically requires a change and does not respond to drug therapy. Anxiety is apprehension of danger and is usually accompanied by restlessness. Analgesia is the loss of sensibility to pain; tranquilization is a state of quiet and calm in which the patient is awake, relaxed, and indifferent to surroundings and minor pain.
展开▼
