- 1 On being a patient
- 2 Modern medicine: foundations, achievements, and limitations
- 3 Global patterns of disease and medical practice
- 4 Cell biology
- 5 Immunological mechanisms
- 6 Principles of clinical oncology
- 7 Infection
- 8 Sexually transmitted diseases and sexual health
- 9 Chemical and physical injuries and environmental factors and disease
- 10 Clinical pharmacology
- 11 Nutrition
- 12 Metabolic disorders
- 13 Endocrine disorders
- 14 Medical disorders in pregnancy
- 15 Gastroenterological disorders
- 16 Cardiovascular disorders
- 17 Critical care medicine
- 18 Respiratory disorders
- 19 Rheumatological disorders
- 20 Disorders of the skeleton
- 21 Disorders of the kidney and urinary tract
- 22 Disorders of the blood
- 23 Disorders of the skin
- 24 Neurological disorders
- 25 The eye
- 26 Psychiatry and drug related problems
- 27 Forensic medicine
- 28 Sports medicine
- 29 Geratology
- 30 Pain
- 30.1 Dealing with pain
- 31 Palliative medicine
- 32 Biochemistry in medicine
- 33 Acute medicine
(p. 5411) Dealing with pain
- Chapter:
- (p. 5411) 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.
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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- 1 On being a patient
- 2 Modern medicine: foundations, achievements, and limitations
- 3 Global patterns of disease and medical practice
- 4 Cell biology
- 5 Immunological mechanisms
- 6 Principles of clinical oncology
- 7 Infection
- 8 Sexually transmitted diseases and sexual health
- 9 Chemical and physical injuries and environmental factors and disease
- 10 Clinical pharmacology
- 11 Nutrition
- 12 Metabolic disorders
- 13 Endocrine disorders
- 14 Medical disorders in pregnancy
- 15 Gastroenterological disorders
- 16 Cardiovascular disorders
- 17 Critical care medicine
- 18 Respiratory disorders
- 19 Rheumatological disorders
- 20 Disorders of the skeleton
- 21 Disorders of the kidney and urinary tract
- 22 Disorders of the blood
- 23 Disorders of the skin
- 24 Neurological disorders
- 25 The eye
- 26 Psychiatry and drug related problems
- 27 Forensic medicine
- 28 Sports medicine
- 29 Geratology
- 30 Pain
- 30.1 Dealing with pain
- 31 Palliative medicine
- 32 Biochemistry in medicine
- 33 Acute medicine