Pain Medicine — Anatomy, Physiology and Pathophysiology

Pain Medicine · Clinical Specialties

How it begins

Detailed study of the mechanisms of transduction, synaptic transmission in the dorsal horn, ascending pathways, cortical processing, descending modulation and the cellular neurobiology of peripheral and central sensitization.

What it covers

1. Introduction and Taxonomy of Pain (IASP)
2. · Critical Differences: Acute Pain vs. Chronic Pain
3. · Clinical Glossary of Sensory Terminology
4. Anatomy of the Peripheral Nociceptive System
5. · Primary Afferent Fibers
6. · Ion Channels and Membrane Receptors in Transduction
7. · Voltage Dependent Sodium Channels (NaV)
8. · The Tissue Inflammatory Soup
9. Transmission and Synapses in the Dorsal Horn
10. · Cytoarchitecture of the Dorsal Horn (Rexed Sheets)
11. · Neurotransmitters and Interneurons in the Spinal Microcircuit
12. · Gate Control Theory
13. Ascending Pathways of Pain: Supraspinal Projection
14. · The Main Projection Tracts
15. Supraspinal Processing and the "Pain Matrix"
16. Downward Modulation of Pain: Endogenous System
17. · The Periaqueductal-Bulborreticular Pathway
18. · ON and OFF cells of the Rostral Ventromedial Medulla
19. · Neurochemistry of Endogenous Opioids
20. · Diffuse Inhibitory Modulation Induced by Noxious Stimuli (DNIC / CPM)
21. Pathophysiology of Peripheral Sensitization
22. · The Intracellular Cascade of Sensitization
23. · Neurogenic Inflammation
24. Pathophysiology of Central Sensitization
25. · The Temporal Summation Phenomenon ("Wind-up")
26. · The NMDA Receptor Cascade and Long-Term Potentiation (LTP)
27. · Glial Activation and Spinal Neuroinflammation
28. · Aberrant Structural Reorganization (Aβ Fiber Sprouting)
29. Pathophysiology of Neuropathic Pain
30. · Cellular Mechanisms of Neuropathic Pain
31. · Key Clinical Neuropathic Syndromes
32. Nociplastic Pain and Central Sensitization
33. · Molecular Pathophysiology of Fibromyalgia
34. · Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS Type I and II)
35. Clinical Pharmacology Applied to Pain
36. · Cellular Action Mechanisms by Pharmacological Group
37. · Opioid-Induced Hyperalgesia (OIH)
38. Physiology of Visceral Pain
39. · Physiological Differences of Visceral Pain vs. Somatic
40. · The Pathophysiology of Referred Pain (Convergence-Projection Theory)
41. Pain in Special Populations
42. · Particularities of Pediatric and Neonatal Nociception
43. · Geriatric Pain and Senile Processing Modifications
44. Clinical Approach and Interventional Pain
45. · Interventional Techniques in Refractory Pain