Shriners Children’s Boston Researchers Develop New Technology to Help Lessen Pain for Burn Patients

BOSTON, June 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Two researchers at Shriners Children’s Boston have created a revolutionary new gel that can help alleviate pain for second-degree burn survivors during dressing changes. Learning about the anxiety and pain that many pediatric burn patients experienced when it was time for a dressing change, Dr. Aslihan Gokaltun, Ph.D., principal investigator, decided to find a way to make the process less scary and painful. She and associate investigator, O. Berk Usta, Ph.D., the Associate Professor of Surgery & Bioengineering at Harvard Medical School, began a hydrogel research study in 2020 and have now bioengineered a first-of-its-kind supramolecular hybrid hydrogel to help alleviate the stress and pain of the treatment process for burn survivors.

“After a child has experienced a traumatic burn, the last thing we want to do as a medical staff is cause that child more pain and fear while treating their injuries,” Dr. Usta said. “While doing research, the biggest thing clinicians agreed upon was that burn dressings should be easily removable and pain-free and our goal was to create a product that would achieve this. Other types of hydrogels can adhere to the wound, and frequent dressing changes can sometimes end up being extremely painful while also delaying healing. The hydrogel we created is unique because it can rapidly dissolve before the treatment process begins, ensuring it doesn’t stick to the wounds.”

Their new biomaterial drastically cuts the dressing change time and the amount of pain a patient is in and is even considered an alternative to heavy medication and sedation for children. Currently, dressing changes average one to three hours. The newly developed hydrogel can be rapidly dissolved in around five minutes by way of a solution that breaks down its molecular structure and does not affect the skin around the wound. It also decreases the risk of wound infections, life-threatening sepsis, and multi-organ failure. 

“The great thing about this new hydrogel is that it allows us to use less anesthesia, pain relievers, and opioids,” explained Dr. Gokaltun. “It took some time to develop but we are so grateful that we now have a product that will potentially benefit so many children and make their burn treatment a more positive experience.”

For more information about the new hydrogel research, go to Shriners Children’s website at www.shrinerschildrens.org.

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SOURCE Shriners Children’s