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Dealing with pain 

Dealing with pain
Chapter:
Dealing with pain
Author(s):

Henry McQuay

DOI:
10.1093/med/9780199204854.003.03001

May 31, 2012: This chapter has been re-evaluated and remains up-to-date. No changes have been necessary.

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date: 15 January 2021

Pain is complex—it is too simple to view pain transmission as a hard-wired, line-labelled system, because that cannot explain complexities such as phantom limb pain. The crucial mechanistic distinction for clinical practice is between normal (nociceptive) and nerve damage (neuropathic) pain.

Types of analgesics—conventional analgesics, from paracetamol through to morphine, work well in nociceptive pain and less well in neuropathic pain. Unconventional analgesics, antidepressants, and antiepileptic drugs work well in neuropathic and less well in nociceptive pain....

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