Question

Patients with chronic pain may be more sensitive to pain and other stimuli true or false

Answer 1

It is true that Patients with chronic pain are likely to be more sensitive to pain as well as other stimuli. Unrelieved pain has several physical as well as psychological consequences. Some of these consequences are outlined below.

·         Increased HR, PVR, CO, Myocardial O2 consumption

·         Reduced tidal volume and cough

·         Impaired cognitive function

·         Pain Characteristics

·         Muscle spasm as well as rigidity

Answer 2

This is true as patients that are in chronic pain are sensitive to acute recurrences of pain whether in the same body part or in different areas of the body. While pain is considered a sensation, and sensations are desensitized after prolonged exposure; the opposite is true for pain as people suffereing from chronic pain becomes more sensitive to pain.

This principle is adapted from the 9 core principles of pain assessment (Lewis's Medical-Surgical Nursing, 2017)
1. Patients have the right to appropriate assessment and management of pain.
2. Pain is always subjective
3. Physiologic and behavioral signs of pain are not sensitive or specific for pain
4. Pain is an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience.
5. Assessment approaches, including tools, must be appropriate for the patient population.
6. Pain can exist even when no physical cause can be found
7. Different patients experience different levels of pain in response to comparable stimuli.
8. Patients with chronic pain may be more sensitive to pain and other stimuli
9. Unrelieved pain has adverse physical and psychologic consequences. Acute pain that is not adequately controlled can result in physiologic changes that increase the likelihood of developing persistent pain.