Acute pain management





Chapter one: physiology and psychology of acute pain

  1. Afferent nocioceptive pathways, dorsal horn, peripheral and central mechanisms, neuromodulatory systems, supraspinal mechanisms
  2. Nocioceptive pain
  3. Visceral pain
  4. Neuropathic pain :
    1. Consequences of peripheral nerve injury, spinal cord injury and deafferentation. Recognition of neuropathic pain
  5. Influence of therapy on nocioceptive mechanisms
  6. Basic psychology relevant to pain management

Chapter two: assessment and measurement of acute pain and its treatment

  1. Measurement of pain including monitoring of acute pain and pain relieving methods

Chapter three: provision of safe and effective acute pain management

  1. Organisation and objectives of an acute pain service

Chapter four: systemically administered drugs

  1. Application of pharmacological principles to the pain control: conventional analgesics and adjuvant analgesics; side effects; problems of drug dependency and addiction
  2. The analgesic ladder
  3. Opioids: drugs and mechanisms
  4. Simple analgesics: drugs and mechanisms
  5. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agents: drugs and mechanisms
  6. Inhalational analgesia

Chapter five: regionally and locally administered drugs

  1. Local anaesthetic agents: drugs and mechanisms
  2. Principles of neural blockade for pain management
    1. Peripheral nerve blocks
    2. Plexus blocks
    3. Epidural blocks
    4. Subarachnoid blocks

Chapter six/seven: routes/techniques of systemic drug administration

  1. Opioids: intramuscular, intravenous infusion, intravenous PCA , subcutaneous PCA, epidural, intrathecal

Chapter eight: non-pharmacological methods

  1. Non-pharmacological methods of pain control. The principles of stimulation induced analgesia: transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation and acupuncture .

Chapter nine: specific clinical situations

E.g. Specific Medical Conditions – no specific reference in CCT II or III except in chronic pain setting

Chapter ten: specific patient groups

  1. Specific clinical groups: children and neonates, elderly, impaired consciousness, intensive care, handicapped, Opioid tolerant patient

CEACCP 2002: JUNE
Anthony E. Pickering
An overview of neuropathic pain

CEACCP 2005: AUGUST
Stephen Allen
Pharmacotherapy of neuropathic pain

CEACCP 2002: FEBRUARY
Neil Cardno and Dil Kapur
Measuring pain

CEACCP 2004: APRIL
Susan M Nimmo
Benefit and outcome after epidural analgesia

CEACCP 2002: JUNE
Michael Stone and Bob Wheatley
Patient-controlled analgesia

CEACCP 2002: APRIL
Louise Lynch and Karen H Simpson
Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation and acute pain