| Abstrakt: |
Few medical problems are more complex in nature and perplexing to effectively manage than pain. Pain, in its acute form, is necessary for survival and serves an important role in the way an organism interfaces with its environment by signaling real or impending harm. Occasionally, circumstances lead to activity in the pain-signaling pathway that is not beneficial to the organism and has no survival value. Injury to nerve fibers or their projections may cause conditions that are not usually perceived as painful to become excessively painful. Although most nerve injuries do not lead to clinically important and sustained pain, in some cases, even small degrees of insult can precipitate severe and unremitting pain. Neuropathic pain exists when a nerve responds to an injury in a typical fashion and then continues to respond and signal pain long after the injurious stimulus is removed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
