Acute Pain
- Welzack Chapter 13 Autonomic, Endocrine, and Immune Interactions in Acute and Chronic Pain1
Definition
Problems with traditional acute/chronic classification
Traditionally, Acute vs chronic pain has been defined based on an arbitrary time frame (3mo or 6mo)2. These criteria do not take into consideration
New Classification
A new classification was proposed conceptualizing acute and chronic pain on two dimensions: time and physical pathology2
Acute pain is the physiologic response to and experience of noxious stimuli that can become pathologic, is normally sudden in onset, is time-limited, and motivates behaviors to avoid potential or actual tissue injury2. Pain is elicited by the injury of body tissues and activation of nociceptive transducers at the site of local tissue damage2. The local injury alters the response characteristics of the nociceptors and perhaps their central connections and the autonomic nervous system in the region2. In general, the state of acute pain lasts for a relatively limited time and remits when the underlying pathology resolves2. This type of pain often serves as the impetus to seek health care, and it occurs following trauma, some disease processes, and invasive interventions2.