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The inflammatory response to surgery and trauma.
Benjamin A Kohl1, Clifford S Deutschman
1University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
Current Opinion in Critical Care
|July 1, 2006
Summary
The body's stress response to injury varies with health conditions, sometimes increasing and sometimes decreasing. Recognizing these changes helps clinicians optimize patient healing.
Area of Science:
- Physiology
- Immunology
- Endocrinology
Background:
- The inflammatory and stress responses are critical survival mechanisms following injury.
- These responses can be significantly altered by comorbid conditions.
- Understanding these alterations is key to effective clinical management.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review the inflammatory and stress response to injury in healthy patients.
- To examine the impact of common comorbid conditions on this response.
- To highlight the importance of identifying abnormal responses for optimizing patient healing.
Main Methods:
- This is a review article, synthesizing existing research.
- It examines the physiological and endocrine effects of the stress response.
- Focus is placed on alterations in immune competence and endocrine function.
Main Results:
- Altered inflammatory responses significantly affect immune competence and the endocrine system.
- Ongoing research investigates lymphocyte dysfunction and critical care endocrinopathies.
- The roles of insulin and hyperglycemia in inflammation and wound healing are under study.
Conclusions:
- Understanding the stress response aids clinicians in anticipating and managing patient recovery.
- Deviations from the normal response can indicate underlying medical conditions or complications.
- Recognizing and correcting abnormal responses maximizes a patient's healing potential.