Open AccessPeritraumatic Plasma Omega-3 Fatty Acid Concentration Predicts Chronic Pain Severity Following Thermal Burn Injury
Author(s) -
Matthew C. Mauck,
Chloe E Barton,
Andrew S. Tungate,
Jeffrey W. Shupp,
Rachel Karlnoski,
David J. Smith,
Felicia Williams,
Samuel Jones,
Christopher Sefton,
Kyle McGrath,
Bruce A. Cairns,
Samuel A. McLean
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of burn care and research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.679
H-Index - 78
eISSN - 1559-0488
pISSN - 1559-047X
DOI - 10.1093/jbcr/irab071
Subject(s) - medicine , burn injury , chronic pain , total body surface area , injury severity score , thermal burn , comorbidity , burn center , severity of illness , poison control , anesthesia , physical therapy , injury prevention , emergency medicine , surgery
Chronic pain is a significant comorbidity of burn injury affecting up to 60% of survivors. Currently, no treatments are available to prevent chronic pain after burn injury. Accumulating evidence suggests that omega-3 fatty acids (O3FAs) improve symptoms across a range of painful conditions. In this study, we evaluated whether low peritraumatic levels of O3FA predict greater pain severity during the year after burn injury. Burn survivors undergoing skin autograft were recruited from three participating burn centers. Plasma O3FA (n = 77) levels were assessed in the early aftermath of burn injury using liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry, and pain severity was assessed via the 0 to 10 numeric rating scale for 1 year following burn injury. Repeated-measures linear regression analyses were used to evaluate the association between peritraumatic O3FA concentrations and pain severity during the year following burn injury. Peritraumatic O3FA concentration and chronic pain severity were inversely related; lower levels of peritraumatic O3FAs predicted worse pain outcomes (β = -0.002, P = .020). Future studies are needed to evaluate biological mechanisms mediating this association and to assess the ability of O3FAs to prevent chronic pain following burn injury.