Pain Management, Rest, and Restorative Sleep

Practice vocabulary flashcards covering pain classifications, management theories, pharmaceutical and nonpharmaceutical treatments, and sleep cycles/disorders from Chapter 19.

Gate Control Theory

Explanation of pain transmission where a “gate” in the central nervous system opens or closes in response to sensory input, stress, and anxiety to allow or block pain impulses.

Acute Pain

Pain that is typically of sudden onset and short duration, often associated with a specific injury or illness.

Chronic Pain

Pain that persists over a long period, often lasting for months or years.

Nociceptive Pain

Pain resulting from surgery or injury, including cutaneous, visceral, and deep somatic subtypes.

Cutaneous Pain

Superficial pain pertaining to the skin’s surface and underlying subcutaneous tissue.

Visceral Pain

Soft tissue pain experienced from stimulation of deep internal pain receptors, often described as an ache or cramping.

Deep Somatic Pain

Also known as osteogenic pain, this involves pain in the bone, ligament, tendon, and blood vessels.

Neuropathic Pain

Pain resulting from destruction of peripheral nerves or the central nervous system, often described as burning, stabbing, or sharp.

Phantom Limb Pain

A type of neuropathic pain where discomfort is felt in a limb that has been amputated.

Effleurage

A nonpharmaceutical method involving repetitive gentle, gliding stroking of the fingertips over the surface of the skin.

Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS)

A battery-powered device applied to the skin over a painful area to provide relief.

Acupressure

A manual therapy technique involving the application of fingertip pressure to specific points on the body.

Acupuncture

The insertion of ultrafine needles into specific body areas to manage pain or illness.

Progressive Relaxation

A systematic process of using the mind to tensing and then relaxing muscles from the top of the head to the toes.

Nonopioid Analgesics

Nonnarcotic pain relievers used for mild to moderate pain, such as Tylenol and NSAIDs.

Opiate/Opioid Analgesics

Controlled substances or narcotics effective for visceral and deep somatic pain, requiring respiratory rate monitoring.

Patient-Controlled Analgesia (PCA)

A computerized IV infusion device that allows the patient to self-administer pain medication within preset dose limits and lockout times.

Adjuvant Analgesics

Medications such as anticonvulsants and antidepressants that potentiate the effects of traditional analgesics.

NREM Sleep

Non–rapid eye movement sleep consisting of four stages; it is considered the deepest and most restful sleep cycle.

REM Sleep

Rapid eye movement sleep, which is less restful than NREM sleep and can be impaired by antianxiety or sleep-promoting medications.

Insomnia

The chronic inability to fall asleep or stay asleep.

Narcolepsy

A condition characterized by uncontrollable, recurrent daytime episodes of sleepiness.

Restless Legs Syndrome

An intolerable crawling sensation in the legs that results in an irresistible urge to move them.

Sleep Apnea

The inability to maintain breathing while sleeping, with periods of apnea lasting from $10\,\text{seconds}$ to $2\,\text{minutes}$.

Somnambulism

The clinical term for sleepwalking.

Sundowning

Confusion and disorientation in older adults that occurs specifically in the evening hours.