• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
• /
• 제17권1호
• /
• pp.12-20
• /
• 2000

The memory of pain can be more damaging than its initial experience. Several factors arc related the directions of pain memory: current pain intensity, emotion, expectation of pain, and peak intensity of previous pain. The possible mechanisms behind the memory of pain are neuroplastic changes of nervous system via peripheral and central sensitization. Peripheral sensitization is induced by neurohumoral alterations at the site of injury and nearby. Biochemicals such as K+, prostaglandins, bradykinin, substance P, histamine and serotonin, increase transduction and produce continuous nociceptive input. Central sensitization takes place within the dorsal horn of spinal cord and amplifies the nociceptive input from the periphery. The mechanisms of central sensitization involve a variety of transmitters and postsynaptic mechanisms resulting from the activations of NMDA receptors by glutamate. and activation of NK-1 tachykinnin receptors by substance-P and neurokinnin. The clinical result of peripheral and central sensitization is hyperalgesia, allodynia, spontaneous pain, referred pain, or sympathetically maintained pain. These persistent sensory responses to noxious stimuli arc a form of memory. The hypothesis of preemptive analgesia is that analgesia administered before the painful stimulus will prevent or reduce subsequent pain and analgesic requirements in comparison to the identical analgesic intervention administered after the painful stimulus, by preventing or reducing the memory of pain in the nervous system. Conventionally, pain management was initiated following noxious stimuli such as surgery. More recently, however many have endorsed preemptive analgesia initiated before surgery. Treatments to control postsurgical pain are often best started before injury activates peripheral nociceptors and triggers central sensitization. Such preemption is not achieved solely by regional anesthesia and drug therapy but also requires behavioral interventions to decrease anxiety or stress. Although the benefit of preemptive analgesia may not be obvious in every circumstance, and in many cases may not sufficient to abolish central sensitization, it is an appropriate and human goal of clinical practice.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
• /
• 제7권2호
• /
• pp.162-169
• /
• 1994

Blockade of cervicothoracic sympathetic ganglion (stellate ganglion controls pain on face, head, neck, shoulder, upper limbs, and upper chest, including their viscera and sympathetically maintained pain. This procedure also increases blood flow to the above areas and relieves hyperreactivity of sympathetic nervous system. Clinically, repeated stellate ganglion blocks with local anesthetic agent may become difficult with complications such as accidental intravascular or subdural injection, recurrent laryngeal nerve or bracheal plexus paralysis, pneumothorax and edema on injection site. Therefore, at times long-term cervicothoracic ganglion block with neurolytics is necessitated but its applications are prohibited by the critical structures surrounding ganglion. There are also few reports of neurolytic stellate ganglion block. This study was performed to observe the complications, gross changes of surrounding structures, and microscopic findings of ganglion cells after neurolytic block and to certify the possibility of clinical use of neruolytic stellate ganglion block. The unilateral superior cervical sympathetic ganglion of rabbit was blocked with absolute ethyl alcohol 0.4 ml at the level of cricoid cartilage. Normal ganglion was used as a control and 5 animals were sacrificed at each intervals of 7, 15 and 50 days after block. The results were as follows; 1) All experimental animals showed no specific changes of behavior, motor function. No necrotic tissues were present in the block area during the observation period. There were some gross scar tissues along the fascia of muscles surrounding the needle injection site, but gross atrophy of muscles or injured major vessels were not found. 2) Microscopically, structures of normal ganglion of rabbit were very similar to those of humans. Seven days after absolute ethyl achohol injection there were marked edema of ganglion cells and nuclei with irregular nuclear membrane. Some of the ganglion cells lost their nuclei and showed degenerative changes. Fifteen days after block, cell edema were decreased and loss of the Nissl's body was prominant. The ganglion cell structures looked close to normal but the cytoplasm and nucleus were generally contracted 50 days after block. These results suggest absolute ethyl alcohol injection on cervical sympathetic ganglion with above method mainly blocks pre- and post-synaptic fibers and the long-term neurolytic blockade of this ganglion may be possible in rabbits.