Post-burn pruritus: need for standardization of care in Nigeria

It is generally agreed among burn care specialists that pruritus (itching) is a very common and distressing complication of burn injuries that results in extreme discomfort. There is no consensus on treatment modality worldwide but there are generally accepted methods of managing amelioration. This survey aims to study the knowledge, attitudes and practices of Nigerian burn specialists who manage various degrees of burn injuries in our environment. The purpose is to find out whether there are any uniform modalities of care for these patients, with the view of possibly providing standardization. To this end, a structured questionnaire was designed and distributed to plastic surgeons from across Nigeria. Findings showed that 88.6% of the plastic surgeons had no form of assessment tool or method for evaluating post-burn pruritus, leaving only 11.4% believing they had a method of assessing the severity of post-burn pruritus. With regard to treatment, 57.1% would use oral medications as first-line treatment, 22.9% would use injectables, 8.6% would use topical agents, 5.7% would only reassure the patients and another 5.7% would use a combination of oral and topical agents together. 85.7% of these plastic surgeons and burn care specialists did not have any form of anti-pruritic regimen, as only 14.3% indicated having this. Hence, there is no standardization in the management of pruritus in Nigeria and there is an urgent need for a management protocol.