Abstract
The International Association for the Study of Pain defines pain as “an unpleasant
sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage
or described in such terms of such damage.” Analgesics can be broadly classified according
to their role primarily on nociception as well as pain perception, both of which are
intimately integrated to the pain experience. An understanding of the pain pathway
is inherent to a good understanding of how therapeutic targets can act as analgesics.
An overview is discussed in this article to understand the rationale for therapeutic
intervention. Opioids are substances that act on opioid receptors to produce morphine-like
effects. All other analgesics that do not produce analgesia through a primary effect
on opioid receptors can be labelled as non-opioid analgesics (NOAs). This article
will aim to provide an overview of the pain pathway in relation to the therapeutic
targets for providing analgesia, commonly used NOAs and their brief introduction.
Keywords
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Further reading
- IUPHAR/BPS guide to pharmacology. January 2018
- Rang and Dale's pharmacology. 9th edition. Elsevier Churchill Livingstone, Edinburgh2018
- The global burden of chronic pain.ASA Newsl. 2014; 78: 24-27
Article Info
Publication History
Published online: May 21, 2022
Royal College of Anaesthetists CPD Skills Framework: PainIdentification
Copyright
© 2022 Published by Elsevier Ltd.
