Topical local anesthetics for pain control at split-thickness skin graft donor sites in burn patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.
Topical anesthetics cut need for rescue analgesia after skin graft donor-site surgery
Topical local anesthetics for pain control at split-thickness skin graft donor sites in burn patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.
Split-thickness skin grafting (split-thickness skin grafting) is commonly used in the treatment of burn injuries and extensive skin defects.
To systematically evaluate the efficacy and safety of topical analgesic interventions for pain control at donor sites following split-thickness skin grafting in burn patients.
Randomized controlled trials comparing topical analgesic interventions with placebo or standard care for split-thickness skin grafting donor-site pain were included.
topical anesthetics sharply cut the odds of needing rescue pain medication
For the primary outcome, no statistically significant difference was observed in postoperative pain scores between topical analgesic interventions and control treatment (MD = - 1.87, 95% CI: -5.05 to 1.31, P = 0.25).
Time to first rescue analgesia and anesthetic requirement were reported by single studies and should therefore be interpreted cautiously; these outcomes suggested prolonged time to first rescue analgesia (MD = 8.56, 95% CI: 7.67-9.45, P < 0.00001) and reduced anesthetic requirements (MD = - 20.61, 95% CI: -31.91 to - 9.31, P = 0.0004).
Topical analgesic interventions did not significantly reduce postoperative pain scores, which was the primary outcome of this meta-analysis. However, they may reduce the need for rescue analgesia without increasing nausea or vomiting.
Because some secondary outcomes were based on single studies, these findings should be interpreted with caution.
Further well-designed randomized controlled trials are needed to confirm the clinical benefit of topical analgesia for split-thickness skin grafting donor-site pain management.