Pathological changes in the brain after peripheral burns

Brain injuries are common complications in patients with thermal burns and are associated with unpleasant outcomes. In clinical settings, it was once believed that brain injuries were not major pathological processes after burn, at least in part due to the unavailability of specific clinical manifestations. Burn-related brain injuries have been studied for more than a century, but the underlying pathophysiology has not been completely clarified. This article reviews the pathological changes in the brain following peripheral burns at the anatomical, histological, cytological, molecular and cognitive levels. Therapeutic indications based on brain injury as well as future directions for research have been summarized and proposed.