RT Book, Section
A1 Rabow, Michael W.
A1 Pantilat, Steven Z.
A1 Shah, Ann Cai
A1 Poree, Lawrence
A1 Steiger, Scott
A2 Papadakis, Maxine A.
A2 McPhee, Stephen J.
A2 Rabow, Michael W.
A2 McQuaid, Kenneth R.
SR Print(0)
ID 1184156652
T1 Acute Pain
T2 Current Medical Diagnosis & Treatment 2022
YR 2022
FD 2022
PB McGraw-Hill Education
PP New York, NY
SN 9781264269389
LK accessmedicine.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1184156652
RD 2024/04/18
AB Acute  pain  resolves  within  the  expected  period  of  healing  and  is  self-limited.  Common  examples  include  pain  from  dental  caries,  kidney  stones,  surgery,  or  trauma.  Management  of  acute  pain  depends  on  comprehending  the  type  of  pain  (somatic,  visceral,  or  neuropathic)  and  on  understanding  the  risks  and  benefits  of  potential  therapies.  At  times,  treating  the  underlying  cause  of  the  pain  (eg,  dental  caries)  may  be  all  that  is  needed,  and  pharmacologic  therapies  may  not  be  required  for  additional  analgesia.  On  the  other  hand,  not  relieving  acute  pain  can  have  consequences  beyond  the  immediate  suffering.  Inadequately  treated  acute  pain  can  develop  into  chronic  pain  in  some  patients.  This  transition  from  acute  to  chronic  pain  (so-called  “chronification”  of  pain)  depends  on  the  pain’s  cause,  type,  and  severity  and  on  the  patient’s  age,  psychological  status,  and  genetics,  among  other  factors.  This  transition  is  an  area  of  increasing  study  because  chronic  pain  leads  to  significant  societal  costs  beyond  the  individual’s  experiences  of  suffering,  helplessness,  and  depression.  Emerging  studies  have  shown  that  increased  intensity  and  duration  of  acute  pain  may  be  correlated  with  a  higher  incidence  of  chronic  pain,  and  regional  anesthesia,  ketamine,  gabapentinoids,  and  cyclooxygenase  (COX)  inhibitors  may  be  helpful  for  prevention  of  chronic  postsurgical  pain.  These  approaches  are  particularly  important  given  concerns  that  exposure  to  opioids  in  the  perioperative  period  can  lead  to  chronic  opioid  dependence  beyond  the  immediate  postoperative  period.