Critical Care of the Burn Patient.

Care of the critically ill burned patient must integrate a multidisciplinary care team composed of burn care specialists. As resuscitative mortality decreases more patients are surviving to experience multisystem organ failure relating to complications of their injuries. Clinicians must be aware of physiologic changes following burn injury and the implicated impacts on management strategy. Promoting wound closure and rehabilitation should be the backdrop for which management decisions are made.

Pharmacologic Management of Pain, Agitation, and Delirium in Burn Patients.

The majority of hospitalized burn patients experience pain, agitation, and delirium. The development of each one of these conditions can also lead to, or worsen, the others. Providers, therefore, need to thoroughly assess the underlying issue to determine the most effective treatment. Multimodal pharmacologic regimens are often used in conjunction with non-pharmacologic strategies to manage pain, agitation, and delirium. This review focuses on the pharmacologic management of these complicated patients in a critical-care setting.