Treatment of post-burn pruritus - A systematic review and meta-analysis

Background: Post -burn pruritus is one of the most common complaints reported by patients with limited evidence for a gold -standard treatment. Objective: To review the literature and assess the efficacy of various interventions in treating post -burn pruritus. Methods: PubMed, MEDLINE, CINAHL, Web of Sciences, Ovid Databases, and ClinicalTrials.Gov were searched. The articles were scored by two assessors for inclusion with a third independent assessor resolving conflicting scores. Results: The present systematic review and meta -analysis synthesised findings from a total of nine studies, representing a pool of 323 patients. The standardized mean effect size for the various categories of interventions was: naltrexone at 1.47 (95 % CI of 0.75-2.20, p < 0.0000), coverings at 0.94 (95 % CI of 0.40-1.48, p = 0.006), topical ozonated oil at 2.64 (95 % CI of 1.94-3.34, p < 0.00001), lasers at 2.34 (95 % CI of 1.60-3.09, p < 0.00001), current stimulation at 1.03 (95 % CI of -0.04 to 2.10, p = 0.06), and lemon balm tea at 0.54 (95% CI of 0.12-0.96, p = 0.01). Conclusions: Current evidence suggests that current modalities have a statistically significant, but not clinically significant, reduction in pruritus. This review highlights the limited quality of evidence in the literature and the poor quality of reporting among excluded studies. (c) 2023 Elsevier Ltd and ISBI. All rights reserved.