Anatomy and physiology of pain 
A comprehensive guide to the anatomy and physiology of pain management
Many nurses have a poor understanding of pain and its management, which can result in failure to treat pain effectively. An insight into the anatomy and physiology of pain is essential to increase nurses’ understanding of what it is and how interventions can help to manage it. This section outlines the basic anatomy and physiology of pain.
Acute pain
Acute pain is a physiological response that warns us of danger. The process of nociception describes the normal processing of pain and the responses to noxious stimuli that are damaging or potentially damaging to normal tissue. There are four basic processes involved in nociception (McCaffery and Pasero, 1999). These are;
- transduction;
- transmission;
- perception;
- modulation.
- Transduction of pain
Transduction begins when the free nerve endings (nociceptors) of C fibres and A-delta fibres of primary afferent neurones respond to noxious stimuli. Nociceptors are exposed to noxious stimuli when tissue damage and inflammation occurs as a result of, for example, trauma, surgery, inflammation, infection, and ischemia.....
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