Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Anatomic and Physiologic Principles of Pain

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Essentials of Pain Management

Abstract

Pain is the most frequent cause of suffering and disability and is the most common reason that people seek medical attention. It is a major symptom in many medical conditions, significantly interfering with a person’s quality of life and general functioning. To understand the physiology and the mechanism of pain as well as optimal methods of control, one must appreciate the anatomical pathways that transmit nociceptive information to the brain. For a better comprehension of the anatomical pathways we divided it into four parts: the peripheral system, the spinal and medullary dorsal horn system, and the ascending and supraspinal system.

If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself, but to your estimate of it. This you have the power to revoke at any time.

–Marcus Aurelius

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
eBook
USD 16.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Besson JM. Theneuro biology of pain. Lancet. 1999 May 8;353(9164):1610–5.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Craig AD, Reiman EM, Evans A, Bushnell MC. Functional imaging of an illusion of pain. Nature. 1996 Nov 21;384(6606):258–60.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Davis KD, Taylor SJ, Crawley AP, Wood ML, Mikulis DJ. Functional MRI of pain- and attention-related activations in the human cingulate cortex. J Neurophysiol. 1997 Jun;77(6):3370–80.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rainville P, Duncan GH, Price DD, Carrier B, Bushnell MC. Pain affect encoded in human anterior cingulate but not somatosensory cortex. Science. 1997 Aug 15;277(5328):968–71.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rygh LJ, Svendsen F, Fiska A, Haugan F, Hole K, Tjolsen A. Long-term potentiation in spinal nociceptive systems – how acute pain may become chronic. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2005 Nov;30(10):959–64.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vanegas H, Schaible HG. Descending control of persistent pain: inhibitory or facilitatory? Brain Res Rev. 2004 Nov;46(3):295–309.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Zeilhofer HU. Synaptic modulation in pain pathways. Rev Physiol Biochem Pharmacol. 2005;154:73–100.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anesthesiology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA

    Xing Fu MD (Resident) & Dan Froicu MD (Resident)

  2. Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA

    Raymond Sinatra MD (Professor of Anesthesiology)

Authors
  1. Xing Fu MD
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Dan Froicu MD
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Raymond Sinatra MD
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Medicine, Dept. Anesthesiology, Yale University, Cedar Street 333, New Haven, 06520-8051, Connecticut, USA

    Nalini Vadivelu

  2. Brigham & Women's Hospital, Dept. Anesthesia, Harvard Medical School, Francis St. 75, Boston, 02115, Massachusetts, USA

    Richard D. Urman

  3. School of Medicine, Dept. Anesthesiology, Yale University, Cedar Street 333, New Haven, 06520-8051, Connecticut, USA

    Roberta L. Hines

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2011 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Fu, X., Froicu, D., Sinatra, R. (2011). Anatomic and Physiologic Principles of Pain. In: Vadivelu, N., Urman, R., Hines, R. (eds) Essentials of Pain Management. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-87579-8_3

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-87579-8_3

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-0-387-87578-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-0-387-87579-8

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation