Acute pain; identifiable stimuli; Postoperative pain; surgery; Anesthesiology and Resuscitation

Acute pain is one of the most common symptoms, for which physicians are consulted.It is a symptom informing the organism about tissue insult (caused by injury, disease,surgical procedure, or childbirth) in order to prevent further damage. Acute pain is anunpleasant sensory, emotional and mental sensation (experience) associated withvegetative signs, psychological response and changes in behavior. It usually lasts forseveral hours to days, rarely more than a month. Acute pain makes the patient seekmedical help within minutes, hours or a few days after the onset of pain. If this signalis ignored, pain may become chronic. Acute pain is provoked by identifiable stimuliand disappears as soon as the tissue injury or damage that had caused it is healed.Postoperative pain is a typical example of acute pain. All surgical procedures are associated with a certain level of postoperative pain. Fear of postoperative pain is one ofthe greatest concerns of patients undergoing surgery.