Introduction:

Management of acute pain is essential in the treatment of burned patients. Current pain management approaches focus on the control of the somatic component reflecting the insult. However, the injury comprises emotional, physical, and psychological components that require multi-disciplinary management, including pharmacological and nonpharmacological interventions to break the vicious circle of pain and its complications.

Objective:

To perform a nonsystematic review of the literature on the pharmacological and nonpharmacological management of pain in patients with extensive burns.

Methods:

Nonsystematic review of the literature published between 2000 and 2016 in MEDLINE/PubMed, Embase, Sciencedirect, SciELO, LILACS, Google Scholar, academic books, and institutional management guidelines.

Results:

After analyzing the literature, it was found that the management of acute pain in the patients with severe burn injury should be based on a multidisciplinary approach.

Conclusions:

Management of acute pain in patients with severe burn injury should not focus only on the somatic components of pain but should also encompass the emotional, physical, and psychosocial components, in order to provide comprehensive management, both pharmacological and nonpharmacological.

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