what is the pathophysiology of post surgical pain?

roser13, ASN, RN · Dec 28, 2015

Do you mean Thoracotomy?

And what do you mean by "they asked me to criticise it"? Who is "they" and criticize what?

CNS2b11 · Dec 28, 2015

thank you for your reply. Yeah it is thoracotomy sorry for that.

I am currently studying nursing, and as part of our studies we need to write up an essay. The essay requires us to criticise the pathophysiology of post surgical pain

CNS2b11 · Dec 28, 2015

well critically discuss*

Rocknurse, MSN, APRN, NP · Dec 28, 2015

Wouldn't it be more appropriate to describe the pathophysiology of pain? Or pain pathways? Post surgical pain isn't really a pathology in and of itself. Pain is a complex combination of external influences on a particular pathology. It seems too general a designation. To describe the pathophysiology of pain you'd have to get into neural/motor pathways and such. It's weirdly worded. What do they mean by criticizing? Do you mean critiquing?

Rocknurse, MSN, APRN, NP · Dec 28, 2015

OK just read your last post. That makes more sense. Describe thorocotomy, when it's used, what for, and the various approaches. Describe the pathophysiology in detail, the clinical presentation, the diagnoses associated with it, the etiology, and then your opinion on the various approaches/treatments/outcomes.

CNS2b11 · Dec 28, 2015

sorry i havent worded it quite right, due to stress. It would have been much easier to describe, but the question is critically discuss the pathophysiology of pain

Rocknurse, MSN, APRN, NP · Dec 28, 2015

OK, so look up pain pathways. How is pain processed by the brain and spinal cord? What is the response to those signals?

CNS2b11 · Dec 28, 2015

thank you im going to try my best

Purple_roses · Dec 28, 2015

Hmm...well we can't dogmatically tell you what your instructor is looking for without a syllabus or more in-depth description of the assignment. I'll put in my two-cents, but take it with a grain of salt and verify the assignment with your teacher, who is the only one who can really tell you if you're on the right track.

Every time I get an assignment, I think, "Why is this important to nursing?" The reason it is important for a nurse to understand pain is because nurses are responsible for helping patients control pain. So what do you need to know in order to help a patient who is in pain from a thoracotomy?

You need to know what a thoracotomy is.

You need to know what type of pain a patient will experience after having a thoracotomy in addition to how long that pain will last, where the pain is located and where it may radiate, what will make the pain worse, and how severe the pain typically can be (although this is very subjective).

You need to know what type of patient education you will need to do in regards to pain relief after a thoracotomy.

You need to know what the nurse should do to alleviate the pain.

Rocknurse, MSN, APRN, NP · Dec 28, 2015

I would add that because you specifically mentioned pathophysiology, it would suggest that you need to relate the physical attributes and origin of the subject at hand. I just got done doing an advanced patho class and we were required to show our understanding by first identifying the point of our paper in an introduction (what am I intending to convey here), a detailed understanding of the physical attributes of the subject (pathophysiology), how did it originate and who is affected by it (etiology), how it is detected (diagnosis), how does it manifest (clinical presentation) and how is it treated? Conclusion is always your impression, how you would apply this knowledge to your patient etc.

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Dec 28, 2015

I am currently studying nursing

Welcome! We have moved your thread to our Nursing Student Assistance forum. Good luck to you.