A lesson from Beyond the Burn: Navigating Modern Burn Care

Regional Anesthesia for Burn Victims

Regional anesthesia plays a vital role in managing burn patients intraoperatively by providing anesthesia during surgery and offering postoperative pain control, thus aiding in rehabilitation efforts. It is applicable not only for burn wound pain but also for alleviating pain at donor sites. When burn and donor sites are located on the same extremity, regional anesthesia can be particularly beneficial. Lateral femoral cutaneous nerve blocks can be employed to address pain at thigh donor sites. Various techniques, such as tumescent local anesthesia, subcutaneous catheter infusions, and peripheral nerve blocks, can be utilized for regional pain management in burns. While epidural analgesia has potential benefits, its use in burn patients is restricted due to the associated risk of infection and colonization linked with indwelling vascular access. Therefore, caution is warranted when considering central neuraxial blockade in burn patients who may benefit from it. Truncal blocks offer advantages for donor site harvesting, with the lateral femoral cutaneous nerve block being well-suited for addressing pain at the lateral thigh, a common donor site for split-thickness skin grafts.

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