Neuroscience ─ Focus on Acute and Chronic Pain

Dedicated to neuroscience pioneer Camillo Golgi, this volume discusses new findings concerning the biological basis of neurotransmission and pain processing and control. Topics include acute postoperative pain service models; guidelines for ethical decisions in terminal illness; opioids in the treatment of cancer pain; the use of regional anaesthesia and fast track in postoperative functional pain management; PET-scan and electrophyiological assessment of neuromodulation procedures for pain control; visceral pain mechanisms; consciousness and pain; the involvement of the brainstem reticular formation in pain processing; and physiological versus pathological pain. The majority of contributors are affiliated with the universities of Siena, Chieti, and Trieste in Italy; others represent university hospitals and institutes in Germany, France, and the US. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)