Development of a Postburn Pruritus Relief Protocol

Abstract

Background: Post burn pruritus is a syndrome of stressful symptoms that is pervasive and occurs in over 90% of burn patients and continues for years after the burn has healed. Post burn pruritus is experienced by burn survivors that may require medical management and effective interventions. Purpose: This article is to show how to relieve post burn pruritus effectively by developing a post burn pruritus relief protocol. Design: A descriptive literature review was conducted and relevant empirical articles written during the year of 2000 to 2014 were appraised to create a post burn pruritus relief protocol. Twenty seven out of 79 articles were selected using pre-established inclusion criteria: any age group experiencing burn related pruritus after second or third degree burns. Data bases were Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, CINAHL, EBSCO, PubMed, the National Guideline Clearinghouse, google scholar, and the American Burn Association web site. Conclusions: This protocol included both non-pharmacological and pharmacological interventions that have been delineated for use and was developed to apply based on the healing stage: pre-healing, healing, and post-healing.