Classification

• Pain of recent onset and probable limited duration

• Pain lasting for more than 3 months
• Pain lasting after normal healing
• Often no identifiable cause

• Exacerbation of chronic pain
• What is the cause?
• May be obvious
• For example - new pathology caused by pathological fracture

• Incident pain? (pain related to a specific event e.g. movement)
• Breakthrough pain? (pain which is related to inadequate analgesia, e.g. occurs between regular doses of analgesics)

• Progressive
• May be mixture of acute and chronic
• Acute exacerbation - ?cause

• Many different causes
• Acute or chronic
• Acute exacerbation - ?cause

Nociceptive Pain

• Obvious tissue injury or illness
• Also called "physiological pain"
• Pain has a protective function
• For example, preventing further tissue damage
• Description
• Sharp ± dull
• Well localised

• Description
• Burning, shooting ± numbness, pins and needles
• Not well localised