Effect of nitrous oxide on fentanyl consumption in burned patients undergoing dressing change.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Thermal injuries and injured areas management are important causes of pain in burned patients, requiring that these patients are constantly undergoing general anesthesia for dressing change. Nitrous oxide (N2O) has analgesic and sedative properties; it is easy to use and widely available. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate the analgesic effect of N2O combined with fentanyl in burned patients during dressing change.

METHOD: After approval by the institutional Ethics Committee, 15 adult burned patients requiring daily dressing change were evaluated. Patient analgesia was controlled with fentanyl 0.0005% administered by intravenous pump infusion on-demand. Randomly, in one of the days a mixture of 65% N2O in oxygen (O2) was associated via mask, with a flow of 10 L/min (N2O group) and on the other day only O2 under the same flow (control group).

RESULTS: No significant pain reduction was seen in N2O group compared to control group. VAS score before dressing change was 4.07 and 3.4, respectively, in N2O and control groups. Regarding pain at the end of the dressing, patients in N2O group reported pain severity of 2.8; while the control group reported 2.87. There was no significant difference in fentanyl consumption in both groups.

CONCLUSIONS: The association of N2O was not effective in reducing opioid consumption during dressing changes.