Open AccessSuccessful Use of Gabapentin in Acute Pain Management Following Burn Injury: A Case Series
Author(s) -
Gray Paul,
Williams Bronwyn,
Cramond Tess
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
pain medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.893
H-Index - 97
eISSN - 1526-4637
pISSN - 1526-2375
DOI - 10.1111/j.1526-4637.2006.00149.x
Subject(s) - gabapentin , medicine , neuropathic pain , burn injury , anesthesia , dysesthesia , allodynia , nerve injury , adverse effect , dosing , hyperalgesia , neuralgia , surgery , nociception , pharmacology , alternative medicine , receptor , pathology
Pain after burn injury has multiple qualities, including neuropathic and hyperalgesic elements. This element of the burn patients’ pain experience is frequently difficult to manage and contributes significantly to their suffering. The onset may be either immediate or delayed. Gabapentin has established efficacy in the reduction of burn‐induced hyperalgesia and allodynia in animal and human experimental burn models. This article reports a case series of six patients who, following admission to hospital with burn injury, described burning dysesthesia at either the injury or graft donor site. These patients were prescribed gabapentin in addition to standard analgesia. The use of gabapentin resulted in a rapid reduction in the severity of the neuropathic element of the pain. The medication was well tolerated, with no severe adverse reactions. Conclusions. This case series introduces the use of gabapentin as a potentially important therapy in the management of neuropathic pain following burn injury. Further research is required to define the use of gabapentin in this specific setting.