Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Pain and Pruritus Postburn Injury

2017; Oxford University Press; Volume: 38; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1097/bcr.0000000000000534

1559-0488

Bernadette Nedelec, Gretchen J. Carrougher,

Thermal Regulation in Medicine

Burn injuries have long been acknowledged as one of the most painful experiences known to man; however, the recognition that chronic pain is an important and prevalent long-term sequelae postburn injury is more recent. Itch or pruritus are complaints that develop as the burn wound and donor sites begin to heal. Like chronic pain, our understanding of itch is still evolving and has changed enormously based on recent research findings. In order to thoroughly explore the published research advances during the past 10 years, a literature search was performed between 2006 and 2015. Peer-reviewed manuscripts that included original clinical data from case series or higher level evidence on burn survivors resulted in 146 manuscripts; however, for the sake of brevity only the most recent evidence was retained. Although the magnitude of acute burn pain was well established, more recent findings have shown that events that increase the expression of inflammatory mediators, further intensifies the pain experienced.1 Qualitative research has reported that patients experience uncontrolled pain and that their satisfaction with care is closely related to their pain management.2,3 Although unrelieved pain is an important issue unto itself, it is particularly important to address due to the fact that it is has been associated with poorer long-term outcomes.4 Although the literature is not as extensive in children, uncontrolled pain during the acute phase has been associated with long-term morbidity.5,6 Previous research has reported that pain is inadequately evaluated and undertreated, with more recent literature confirming that this continues to be an issue7 and extending these findings to prehospital care.8