Adult Analgesic Guidelines

The following table provides a recommended short term (<72 hours) oral analgesia guidelines for the management of superficial burn injury.

Aim for pain scores of 4 or less at rest. Analgesia should be reviewed after 72 hours and adjusted according to pain scores.

Patient management should be guided by individual case and clinical judgement.

Pain Score
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Mild Pain Pain Score 1 - 3 Moderate Pain Pain Score 4 – 7 Severe Pain Pain Score 7 – 10 Recommended analgesia: Recommended analgesia in addition to column 1: Recommended analgesia in addition to column 1 & 2: Paracetamol 1g PO QID Tramadol 50 – 100mg PO QID Strong opioids Oxycontin SR 10mg bd And if needed: Naproxen 250mg PO TDS (+/- GI protection) And if above unsuccessful: Endone 5 – 10 mg 2 to 4 hourly PRN Endone, 2 - 4 hourly prn review in 72 hours review in 72 hours If pain cannot be controlled with oral medications, consider hospital admission for pain management

Adapted from Alfred Health Acute Pain Management Guidelines 2010 (21)