A noxious stimulus is "an actually or potentially tissue damaging event."[1] It is a prerequisite for nociception, which itself is a prerequisite for nociceptive pain[1] Noxious stimuli can either be mechanical (e.g. pinching or other tissue deformation), chemical (e.g. exposure to acid or irritant), or thermal (e.g. high or low temperatures). There are some types of tissue damage that are not detected by any sensory receptors, and thus cannot cause pain. Therefore, not all noxious stimuli are adequate stimuli of nociceptors. The adequate stimuli of nociceptors are termed nociceptive stimuli. A nociceptive stimulus is defined as "an actually or potentially tissue damaging event transduced and encoded by nociceptors."[1] [edit] References - ^ a b c Loeser JD, Treede RD. (2008). "The Kyoto protocol of IASP Basic Pain Terminology.". Pain 137 (3): 473-7. PMID 18583048.
| Pain and nociception | | | Head and neck | | | | Thorax | Back ( upper back, lower back, spinal disc herniation, degenerative disc disease, coccydynia) • Breast ( perimenstrual, breast cancer) • Chest ( myocardial infarction, gastroesophageal reflux disease, pancreatitis, hiatus hernia, aortic dissection, asymptomatic pulmonary embolism, Tietze's syndrome) • Shoulder (right side - cholecystitis) | | | Abdominal | Left and right upper quadrant ( peptic ulcer disease, gastroenteritis, hepatitis, pancreatitis, cholecystitis, atypical myocardial infarction, abdominal aortic aneurysm, asymptomatic gastric cancer) • Left and right lower quadrant ( appendicitis, ulcerative colitis, Crohn's disease, ectopic pregnancy, endometriosis, pelvic inflammatory disease, diverticulitis, urolithiasis, pyelonephritis, colorectal cancer) | | | Limbs | | | | Joints (arthralgia) | | | | Musculoskeletal | | | | Other/unspecified | cold pressor test, congenital insensitivity to pain, dolorimeter, HSAN ( Type I, II congenital sensory neuropathy, III familial dysautonomia, IV congenital insensitivity to pain with anhidrosis, V congenital insensitivity to pain with partial anhidrosis), neuralgia, pain asymbolia, pain disorder, paroxysmal extreme pain disorder • Allodynia, breakthrough pain, chronic pain, hyperalgesia, hypoalgesia, hyperpathia, phantom pain, referred pain | | | Related concepts | Anterolateral system, gate control theory of pain, pain management ( anesthesia, cordotomy), pain scale, pain threshold, pain tolerance, posteromarginal nucleus, substance P, suffering, OPQRST | | |
