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Daily rehabilitation after burn injury is vital for prevention of function-limiting contractures. However, adherence to prescribed therapy following acute burn hospitalization has historically been low and not well-studied. Studies involving virtual reality technology have demonstrated an association with improved functional outcomes in burn therapy. We conducted a five-year randomized controlled trial comparing 12 weeks of a home-based virtual rehabilitation (HBVR) system with standard burn therapy. Our primary outcome was adherence to prescribed home therapy, measured by e-diary self-report. Secondary outcomes included steps walked daily and patient-reported outcomes regarding stiffness, upper extremity function, and mobility. We enrolled 50 subjects, of which 48 provided data for analysis (23 HBVR, 25 control). Overall adherence to prescribed home therapy was low, 37.2% in the HBVR group and 60.0% in the control group. Reasons for non-adherence in the HBVR group included lack of time, engagement, and replacement of therapy with other physical activity. However, some subjects enjoyed HBVR and believed it aided their recovery. There was no difference in daily steps walked between the two groups. Daily walking gradually improved from 3,500 steps per day in the first week after baseline and plateaued at 6,000 steps per day at week five. There were no differences in stiffness, upper extremity function, and mobility between the two groups at baseline and 3-, 6-, and 12-month follow-up. Subjects demonstrated improved upper extremity function and mobility in the first year after discharge that coincided with increasing stiffness.

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INTRODUCTION: Previous reports suggest that many factors impact recovery from burn injury. To improve our understanding of these factors, we queried adult burn survivors using a mixed method design during the first year after injury. METHODS: An anonymous, 2-page survey was developed and administered to adult burn survivors during routine outpatient clinic follow-up visits at a regional burn center. Participants rated issues of concern and their impacts on return to pre-burn activity levels. Both quantitative and qualitative data were obtained. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze quantitative data and thematic analysis was used to identify, analyze and report patterns from open-ended responses. RESULTS: Over seven months in 2016, 187 patients completed the anonymous survey. Study participants were predominantly male, white, and non-Hispanic. Participants who had not yet returned to pre-burn function reported worse outcomes for all issues queried compared to those who had. Burn survivors from racial and ethnic minority groups reported greater difficulty with accessing medical care and information about their injury as well as higher levels of self-identified posttraumatic stress, issues related to appearance and concerns for loss of strength. Several themes and sub-themes were identified that had both negative and positive impact on early recovery. Such themes included: healing process, psychological recovery and emotional health, and community reintegration/employment. CONCLUSIONS: Several themes from responses provided insight into challenges as well as key support systems during the first year of recovery after injury. Collectively, these findings can be used to direct clinical outpatient care, patient education and psychosocial support services.

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Gabapentin has analgesic efficacy for neuropathic pain and is increasingly used in burn care. This study investigated the effect of a neuropathic pain control protocol, as well as early gabapentin initiation (<72 hours from injury) on total inpatient opioid use, chronic pain, and itch. This is a single-institution retrospective cohort study of patients over age 14 admitted between 2006 and 2016 with burns. They compared patients who did not receive gabapentin with those who had early gabapentin initiation vs late initiation. They also compared patients who used gabapentin before initiation of a neuropathic pain protocol (February 2015) to those after. Primary outcomes were total inpatient gabapentin, morphine equivalent dose (MED), longitudinal pain and itch, as well as SF-12v2® Health Survey mental and physical component summary (MCS/PCS) at discharge, 6, 12, and 24 months postinjury. Ordinal logistic regression analysis was used to examine pain and itch scores. Linear regression models examined MCS and PCS between groups. Models were adjusted for age, sex, TBSA burned, area grafted, MED, and ICU stay. There was no significant difference in MED with early initiation, yet inpatient gabapentin use increased from 43.9 to 59.5 g (P < .001) with late initiation. The neuropathic pain protocol did not significantly change total gabapentin use (P = .184) in patients receiving gabapentin but decreased opioid use from 58.1 to 17.4 g MED (P = .008). Their results suggest that neither early gabapentin nor its use in a standardized neuropathic pain protocol improves long-term pain, itch, PCS, or MCS.

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