The following is a summary of the “A Multimodal Pain Management Strategy for Burn Patients,” published in the February 2023 issue of Pain management by Liechty, et al.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of an interdisciplinary, multi-modal approach to pain management on patients’ perceptions of their ability to cope with pain, pain levels, and opioid consumption while in the acute care setting after suffering a burn injury. In a burn facility in the Pacific Northwest that has been accredited by the American Burn Association (ABA), researchers used a pre-and post-test quasi-experimental approach. For a period of 6 months, prospective data were obtained from 44 burn patients. 28 patients in the control group received standard care, whereas 16 patients in the intervention group followed a structured pain management program. 

The Coping Self-Efficacy Measure was used to assess patients in both groups during admission and again upon release to determine their level of coping self-efficacy. Everyone’s average pain rating and total opioid consumption were converted to milligrams of morphine. After the data was collected in February 2021, it was analyzed, and a poll was sent out to burn nurses to get their thoughts. There were no statistically significant differences between the intervention and comparison groups regarding coping self-efficacy, pain levels, or opioid use.

In addition, coping and problem-focused self-efficacy was positively correlated to burn severity and length of hospital stay. Since the establishment of the protocol, burn nurses have observed greater usage of nonpharmacologic adjuncts. There is a higher likelihood of regular usage of nonpharmacologic adjuncts if they are outlined in a protocol. Acute burn care has been shown to improve patients’ perceptions of their abilities in some ways.

Source: sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1524904222001849