What is the bases for the most widely used classifications of pain
Pain is a subjective experience that does not lend itself to the usual classifications for a variety of reasons. For example, although many mechanisms of pain have been hypothesized, unlike our ability to determine that a urinary tract infection is caused by a specific pathogen, it is rarely if ever possible to link a specific pain mechanism to the etiology of a person’s pain experience. On a practical basis, pain classifications depend on the following:
- • Inferred pathophysiology (nociceptive vs. non-nociceptive)
- • Time course (acute vs. subacute vs. chronic)
- • Location (localized painful region vs. generalized)
- • Etiology (e.g., cancer, arthritis, nerve injury or a combination of these)
