Multimodal Analgesia and Discharge Opioid Requirements in Burn Patients

Analgesia in burn patients is challenging given the complexity of burn pain and prolonged need beyond hospital admission. Given the risks of opioids, the impact of multimodal analgesia postdischarge needs to be further elucidated in this population. This retrospective, single-center cohort study evaluated adult burn patients who were consecutively admitted to the burn service with at least 10% total body surface area burned and subsequently followed in the burn clinic between February 2015 and September 2018. Subjects were separated into two cohorts based on discharge pain regimens: multimodal and nonmultimodal. The primary outcome was the change in opioid requirements (measured in oral morphine equivalents) between discharge and first follow-up interval. Secondary outcomes included the classes of multimodal agents utilized and a comparison of opioid requirements between the last 24 hours of admission and discharge. A total of 152 patients were included for analysis, 76 in the multimodal cohort and 76 in the nonmultimodal cohort. The multimodal cohort was noted to have increased total body surface area burned and prolonged number of days spent in the intensive care unit at baseline; however, the multimodal cohort exhibited a more significant decrease in opioid requirements from discharge to first follow-up interval when compared with the nonmultimodal cohort (106.6 vs 75.4 mg, P = .039).