Long-term persistance of the pathophysiologic response to severe burn injury.

Main contributors to adverse outcomes in severely burned pediatric
patients are profound and complex metabolic changes in response to
the initial injury. It is currently unknown how long these
conditions persist beyond the acute phase post-injury. The aim of
the present study was to examine the persistence of abnormalities
of various clinical parameters commonly utilized to assess the
degree hypermetabolic and inflammatory alterations in severely
burned children for up to three years post-burn to identify patient
specific therapeutic needs and interventions. Nine-hundred
seventy-seven severely burned pediatric patients with burns over
30% of the total body surface admitted to our institution between
1998 and 2008 were enrolled in this study and compared to a cohort
non-burned, non-injured children. Demographics and clinical
outcomes, hypermetabolism, body composition, organ function,
inflammatory and acute phase responses were determined at admission
and subsequent regular intervals for up to 36 months post-burn.
Statistical analysis was performed using One-way ANOVA, Student's
t-test with Bonferroni correction where appropriate with
significance accepted at p