Gabapentin is effective as an analgesic adjunct in shock period after burn

Abstract

Background. Pain intensity in early phase of burn injury is one of the most excruciating pain sensations that can experienced. Opiods IV-PCA, "gold standart" analgesia, do not provide sufficient pain control in the majority of the cases and may even induce severe side effects in this highly vulnerable population. Effective adjuncts for analgesia must be sought. Methods. A prosdpective randomized controlled study was carried out in a burn unit in the Hospital of Lithuanian University of Sciences during the period of December 2010-December 2012. After hospitalization all patients received standard burn injury care according to our local protocol. The pain treatment protocol was standardized with morphine patient-controlled analgesia (IV-PCA) for all patients. Patients os the treatment group received 1200 mg per day of oral gabapentin (three treatment days), starting on the 1st post-burn day. Subjective experience of pain was measured using the short-form Mc-Gill Pain Questionnaire (SF-MPQ), pain intensity – using the visual analogue scale (VAS). Hospital Anxiety and Depression (HAD) scale was used to assess anxiety in the shock period of burn injury. Both questionnaire (SF-MPQ-2 and HADS) were administered at the three assessment time points (1st-after admission to hospital, 2nd - second day post-burn, 3rd - third day post-burn). [...].