Does propranolol Reduce Risk for posttraumatic Stress Disorder in burned patients survivors

Burn injury can be traumatic and may trigger symptoms that negatively affect a person’s emotional and social well-being. Burn survivors often experience anxiety disorders several years after the injury. In this way, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is an importantPsychopathology for burned patients as it can affect both physical outcomes and quality of lifefor those affected. Various research states that PTSD may be identified in 30% to 40% sixmonth post burn injury and 15% to 45% one year post burn injury. Propranolol seems to be efficacy in patients with PTSD. Our idea was to evaluate the presence of PTSD in patients burned from a database (electronic medical records). There were 450 participants. Most were 10 years post burn. The prevalence of PTSD at time of our study was 25%. We analyzed the data by identifying two groups. The first group consisting patients with propranolol and the second group patients without propranolol. There is a significant differences were found between these groups. Propranolol can reduced the risk of PTSD in burned patients. Further double blind studies is warranted to assess the possible long-term benefit of propranolol on posttraumatic symptoms in burn survivor patients.