Topical Morphine for Analgesia in Patients With Skin Grafts
Status:
Not yet recruiting
Trial end date:
2024-12-01
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
The management of pain endured by patients after skin grafting is complex. Pain is the single
most distressing symptom but as it is difficult to manage, it is often under-treated. These
patients may experience pain from two types of wound: the original injury and from
"skin-donor" sites, areas of healthy skin from which skin is surgically removed and used to
cover the original injury. As the section of skin which is removed is standardized, the wound
created at the donor site is uniform and so provides a model of an acute wound.
Opioids (such as morphine) are the backbone of treating the moderate to severe pain
experienced by any patient. But due to their potentially severe side effects and that some
patients do not experience sufficient relief from the treatment, optimal treatment schedules
are still being sought after.
Topically applied morphine has provided effective and safe analgesia in several clinical
models. We, therefore, wish to apply this treatment modality onto skin-graft donor wounds. If
found to be effective this could be an appealing non-invasive method to treat the pain of
this type of wound.