Exercise stress testing for the pediatric patient with burns: a preliminary report

There is no literature concerning postburn exercise tolerance among pediatric patients. In an effort to quantify the endurance capabilities of pediatric burn victims, stress testing of 59 patients was carried out with a modified Bruce protocol. This treadmill test consists of eight 3-minute stages with incremental increases in speed and incline. Fifty-nine patients (37 boys and 22 girls) were tested. The mean burn surface area was 46%; an average of 33% consisted of full-thickness burns. The average time since burn injury at which patients were tested was 2.9 +/- 1.9 years. The average age of the patients at the time of test was 11.4 +/- 3.9 years. No differences in exercise tolerance were found among these children irrespective of the presence of inhalation injury, method of excision, or burn size. If these trends continue as more data are accumulated, the long-term prognosis for the child with severe burns will be encouraging.