More than one-quarter of pediatric patients with burns treated at a single center experienced pruritus, according to a study published in the Journal of Burn Care & Research that aimed to address gaps in the literature regarding post-burn pruritis among pediatric patients. Jennifer Zuccaro, PhD, and colleagues completed a retrospective analysis of all patients with burns treated at a single pediatric burn center between 2009 and 2017, using the presence or absence of pruritus after the burn as the primary outcome. Among 1,783 patients (mean age at injury, 3.67; mean burn total body surface area [TBSA], 3.48%), most burns were due to scalds (66%), and 665 patients (37.3%) reported pruritis. After multivariable logistic regression, TBSA, age older than 5, burns secondary to fire/flames, and burn depth significantly predicted pruritus (P<0.05). Pruritus was managed with diphenhydramine (85.0%), hydroxyzine (37.3%), and gabapentin (4.2%), as well as massage (45.7%), pressure garments (20.0%), and laser therapy (8.6%).
