Withdrawal syndrome following prolonged sedation in a burn patient.

Burn patients frequently require prolonged intubation and sedation. A rare complication of prolonged sedation is the "acute withdrawal syndrome" which usually occurs within 24 hours of stopping the sedatives. Our burn team's lack of awareness of the syndrome has led to the occurrence of this preventable complication in one of our burn patients. The case is reported here to increase the plastic surgeons' awareness of this complication and its management