863 Drug Addiction and Opioid Use in the Acute Burn Patient

Abstract

Introduction In light of the opioid crisis, there is an increased interest in the acute pain management of patients with history of drug addiction. There is no consensus on pain management among different burn centers and the amount of narcotic prescription reportedly doubled over a seven year period according to Tully in 20191. Our aim was to study the association of previous drug addiction history and the treatment of acute burn patients with special interest on the daily morphine equivalent requirements. Methods A prospectively maintained database was queried to study acute burn patients admitted in a reference burn center from 2013 to 2018. Patients with a previous history of drug addiction (group 1) were compared to patients without it (group 2). Drug abuse was defined as patients with history of opioids abuse, heroin, cocaine, cannabis, inhalants, and alcoholism, specifically those with diagnostic codes on file. The expected mortality was calculated using the Premier® database. A p0.05 was considered significant. Results A total of 3046 patients were studied, 502 (16.5%) had previous history of drug abuse on file. Compared to group 2, group 1 had: more males - 343 (68.3%) vs 1456 (57.2%) p0.001; was younger - 45.7914.65 vs 52.0219.57 p0.001; required intubation at a higher rate - 100 (19.9%) vs 329 (12.9%) p0.001; longer intubation period - 2.4310.05 vs 1.377.71 p0.001; had a prolonged admission - 13.8728.82 vs 8.4816.58 p0.001; more surgeries - 1.213.30 vs 0.71.58 p=0.002, and a higher daily morphine milligram equivalent requirement - 148.34320.56 vs 56.0297.81 p0.001. The groups had similar expected mortality rates: 3.03% vs 3.56%p=0.483; which may be partly explained by the fact that the drug use history is not accounted for on the formula. No significant difference was seen on the burned area between the groups. Conclusions Drug addiction was associated with increased need for intubation and length of intubation, prolonged admission, increased surgery rate and a higher daily morphine equivalent usage. Further studies are necessary guide the treatment of the specific needs of these increasingly common burn patients subgroup and also to define the need of including the history of drug use on the expected mortality rate formula. Applicability of Research to Practice This study adds to the literature differences in the treatment of burn patients with history of drug addiction and highlights the need for specific protocols for improved care.