The Understanding and Teaching of Reaction to Pain

The Relationship of Pathogenetic Mechanisms to Treatment in Patients with Pain

“…In the case of narcotic drugs, activation of recently discovered opioid receptors [Goldstein et al" 1971], particularly those located in the peri aqueductal gray region, may serve to dis charge impulses from certain midbrain nu clei, especially the nucleus raphe magnus, which descend into the dorsal horn of the spi nal cord and regulate the incoming sensory afferents [Miller and Deyo, 1979]. The seda tion, whether operating at reticular or limbic system levels, is effective in reducing the anx iety or fear which has been referred to as the reactive component in pain [Barber, 1959;Ramsay, 1979], Thus far we have considered pain as a symptom, reflecting actual or threatened tis sue damage to peripheral structures. Al though in such cases the pain may be very severe and constitute the most prominent symptom, it has no existence unto itself and typically subsides with treatment of the un derlying problem.…”

Postoperative pain following hysterectomy in relation to muscle tension, psychological factors and morphine use

“…The relationship, in a given patient, between pain and various emotional phenomena, was one of the most difficult to untangle clinically. Ramsey (1979) The results of using Diazepam as an independent variable showed that only the affective word descriptor scale was depressed following administration -the sensory word adjectives were unaltered. Melzack and Torgeson (1971) began to clarify the description of pain by providing a specific vocabulary, through use of which sufferers may choose those words descriptive of their perception of pain.…”