Burn is a serious trauma that causes acute damage to the skin and subcutaneous tissues due to the effect of heat, electricity, radiation, physical, and chemical substances. It has been reported that the incidence of itching is high in burn patients during the maturation stage of wound healing. The literature suggests that in managing the symptom of itching, skin hydration support along with cold application methods can also be used. The integrity of the skin, the duration, frequency, characteristics, areas of itching, and identifying conditions that increase or decrease itching are important for managing itching. This study is planned to be conducted with a randomized controlled design to examine the effect of applying cold gel packs to burn areas of burn patients during the maturation stage on itching. This researcher's hypothesis is that burn patients who applied cold gel packs to burn areas during the maturation phase had lower itching severity (frequency, duration, intensity) than those who did not.
Patients will be assigned to one of two groups according to the block randomization list, given a sequence number according to the date and time of admission. In addition to the clinical routine application, cold gel pack application will be applied to the patients in Group 1, and the clinical routine application will continue for those in Group 2. To collect data, the Patient Diagnosis Form developed by the researcher in line with literature information, the Visual Analog Scale for Itching, the Bates-Jensen Wound Assessment Tool and the 12-Item Itching Severity Scale, whose validity and reliability analysis has been conducted, will be used. Calculation of the sample size of the study was made with the G.Power (v3.1.7) computer program. In the study of Joo et al., a total of 26 patient samples were used to represent the universe, assuming that the difference in two independent groups was considered statistically significant according to the itching degree averages of burn patients (α = 0.05 significance level and 95% power). During the research process, it was decided to include a total of 60 individuals in the sample, with 30 patients in Group-1 (Experiment) and 30 patients in Group-2 (Control), taking into account possible losses.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
SUPPORTIVE_CARE
Masking
SINGLE
Enrollment
60
Cold gel packs will be placed on the burn areas of the patients in the maturation phase and applied for 20 minutes.
Kartal Dr.Lütfi Kırdar City Hospital
Istanbul, Turkey (Türkiye)
RECRUITINGItching severity
The scale consists of 12 questions. Questions 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 12 in the scale have two options, "yes" and "no", and the scoring changes as 1 or 0. The frequency of itching in the first question and itchy areas in the 11th question are marked and scored between 1 and 3. The 9th question, which evaluates the frequency of waking up from sleep due to itching, has 4 items and is scored between 0-3. The 10th question, which evaluates the severity of itching, has 5 items and is scored between 1-5. The score obtained from the scale is at least 3 and at most 22, and as the score increases, the level of being affected by itching also increases. Scores obtained as a result of the scale indicate mild itching between "3-6", moderate itching between "7-11" and severe itching between "12-22".
Time frame: The itching severity of the patients was measured with the "12-Item Itching Severity Scale"; Before the first application, it will be evaluated a total of 5 times over 4 days, on the morning of the next day of application.
Itching grade
Visual Analog Scale (VAS).It is stated that Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) can be used to measure the severity of itching. VAS is a numerical and one-dimensional scale and is mostly used to obtain an objective result by evaluating the intensity and severity of itching. The scale is scored between 1-10. VAS is a scale that initially ranges from 0 "I have no itching" to 10 "I have very severe itching", with each interval corresponding to one centimeter and given a numerical value. On the scale, 0 points indicate no itching, 1-3 points indicate mild itching, 4-6 points indicate moderate itching, 7-8 points indicate severe itching, and 9 and above points indicate very severe itching.
Time frame: itching grade will be evaluated instantly with the Visual Analog Scale (VAS) 0 minutes before each application and 20 minutes immediately after the application.The scale will be evaluated for 4 days with repeated measurements twice a day before and after
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