Anesthetic Practices for Laser Rehabilitation of Pediatric Hypertrophic Burn Scars

The objective of this quality improvement study is to determine whether a difference exists in postoperative pain outcomes in pediatric patients who receive intraoperative opioid regimens compared with patients who receive opioid-sparing regimens for laser therapy of hypertrophic burn scars. A retrospective review of patients who received laser therapy at a pediatric burn center from April 2014 to May 2015 was performed. Overall, 88 of the 92 procedures reviewed were included. A statistically significant difference was not found between the likelihood of postoperative pain when intraoperative opioid regimens (n = 63) were given compared with opioid-sparing regimens (n = 25) X2 (1, n = 88) = 2.870, P = .0902. There was also no difference between short-acting (n = 48), long-acting (n = 9), or combination (n = 6) intraoperative opioids compared with opioid-sparing regimens (n = 25) in the likelihood of postoperative pain. Despite the small sample size, the low number of postoperative pain cases is encouraging. Ultimately, these data provide a foundation for developing anesthetic guidelines for pediatric laser procedures. Specifically, clinicians should consider the potential to deliver adequate perioperative care via an opioid-sparing regimen ± adjuvant.
Source: Journal of Burn Care and Research - Category: Rehabilitation Tags: Original Articles: 2016 ABA Papers Source Type: research