RT Book, Section A1 Stanton-Hicks, Michael A1 Abdi, Salahadin A2 Bajwa, Zahid H. A2 Wootton, R. Joshua A2 Warfield, Carol A. SR Print(0) ID 1131934538 T1 Complex Regional Pain Syndrome T2 Principles and Practice of Pain Medicine, 3e YR 2016 FD 2016 PB McGraw-Hill Education PP New York, NY SN 9780071766838 LK accessanesthesiology.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1131934538 RD 2024/04/25 AB Ever since Claude Bernard implicated the sympathetic nervous system in sensation, its role in nociception has been the subject of debate.1 No one would argue with the fact that the sympathetic nervous system is intimately involved with the preservation of homeostasis and noxious challenges in humans, although the manner in which it influences the sensation of pain has, until recently, escaped explanation.2 Anatomically, the sympathetic nervous system constitutes a highly complex arrangement of preganglionic and postganglionic neurons that subserve specific and diverse functions of target organs, including enteric neurons, smooth muscle, syncytial muscle, and striated muscle.3 Physiologically, the sympathetic nervous system is associated in some way with both systemic and specific local reactions, which are expressed by supratentorial and confrontational aspects that are represented in the periaqueductal gray matter of the midbrain (e.g., nonopioid analgesia).4,5 In contrast, rest and quiescence are represented in the ventrolateral periaqueductal gray matter, being associated with endogenous opioid analgesia.