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Topical heparin improves pain relief in patients with burns

Patients who received topical heparin to manage first-and second-degree burns experienced less pain and infection and reported less opioid use vs. controls.

At a single center, 60 consecutive first-and second-degree burn patients were randomly assigned to two groups: 30 to a control group and 30 to the heparin group.

The amount of heparin used was calculated by 100,000 IU per 15% burn surface area (BSA) per day in three or four divided doses. The medication was applied with a 50 mL syringe until the pain was alleviated and was repeated two to four times until blanching occurred. On the second day, heparin was applied twice a day, which continued for 1 week.

Researchers observed an earlier hospital discharge in the heparin group, except in cases where the BSA was more than 50%.

The mean hospital stay was significantly shorter in the heparin group, in among patients with 10% to 20% BSA (13 vs. 26 days), with 20% to 30% BSA (23 vs. 41 days) and 30% to 40% BSA (26 vs. 67 days).

More complications were found in the control group, including infection and weeping wounds.

Patients in the heparin group required less opioids as they had more pain relief from the heparin, which led to more cheerful and alert patients in this group, according to the researchers. These patients also experienced less erythema and edema.

Patients treated with heparin also benefited from fewer skin grafting procedures and a lower mortality rate than patients in the control group.-by Abigail Sutton

Disclosure: The researchers reported no relevant financial disclosures.