Principles & Practice of Pain Medicine > Part V. Pain Syndromes > B. Acute and Perioperative Pain > Chapter 41. Preemptive Analgesia Thomas T. Simopoulos

Preemptive Analgesia: Introduction

"The understanding of postoperative pain has evolved greatly during the past decade. Many laboratory investigations have established that peripheral tissue injury during surgery can trigger a prolonged state of spinal cord excitation. A reduction in neuronal thresholds in the central nervous system (CNS) is thought to amplify pain in postsurgical patients. Preemptive analgesia is an antinociceptive treatment targeted to block CNS hyperexcitability, and thereby leads to a reduced postoperative pain state. Despite numerous investigations, the clinical relevance of such treatment is, at present, an issue of controversy...."