Question

As the nurse is providing routine a.m. care for a patient following abdominal surgery, the patient complains of pain and is medicated per physician orders. The nurse is aware that the type of pain the patient is experiencing is called

1) Deep somatic pain

2) Visceral pain

3) Phantom pain

4) Cutaneous pain

Answer 1

The patient experiencing pain after abdominal surgery is likely feeling 'visceral pain' which is pain in the internal organs that can be referred to other areas of the body.

Step-by-step explanation:

The type of pain that the patient following abdominal surgery is experiencing is called visceral pain. This kind of pain occurs when there is damage or disruption in the internal organs, and it is often felt in a location different from the source due to referred pain. The process behind referred pain is that the visceral sensory fibers enter the spinal cord at the same level as the somatosensory fibers of the location where the pain is felt. Therefore, the brain might misinterpret abdominal organ discomfort as pain in an entirely different region. To determine the precise location of pain, health care providers often use an abdominal regions and quadrants approach. Visceral pain can be a challenging type of pain assessment and management in clinical practice.