New Concepts in Acute Pain Therapy: Preemptive Analgesia -- American Family Physician

www.aafp.org/afp AMERICAN FAMILY PHYSICIAN 1979 laparotomy, herniorrhaphy and mastectomy. Moreover, even low levels of residual pain are associated with decreased physical and social function as well as a diminished perception of overall health. Questions that confront a physician whose patient is about to undergo surgery include: “What is the process by which painful stimuli sensitize the nervous system?” and “How can this sensitization be prevented to reduce short-term and longterm pain and its consequences?”