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The bigger the burn, the greater the stress

A Smith1, C Barclay, A Quaba

  • 1Department of Child Life and Health, University of Edinburgh, UK.

Burns : Journal of the International Society for Burn Injuries
|June 1, 1997
PubMed

Insights

Pediatric burn injuries trigger significant endocrine stress responses. Hormone levels like vasopressin and catecholamines correlate with burn size, indicating sensitivity to injury severity.

Area of Science:

  • Endocrinology
  • Pediatric Burn Injury
  • Stress Response

Background:

  • Limited data exists on the endocrine stress response in pediatric burn patients.
  • Understanding this response is crucial for managing severe burn injuries in children.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To characterize the endocrine stress hormone levels in children following burn injury.
  • To investigate the correlation between hormone levels and the size of the burn injury.

Main Methods:

  • Measured arginine vasopressin, catecholamines (adrenaline, noradrenaline, dopamine), atrial natriuretic peptide, and renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system hormones.
  • Analyzed admission blood samples from 35 pediatric burn patients.
  • Correlated hormone levels with percentage burn surface area.

Main Results:

  • Significant positive correlations were found between burn size and vasopressin, plasma renin activity, angiotensin II, aldosterone, noradrenaline, and dopamine levels.
  • A significant negative correlation was observed between burn size and atrial natriuretic peptide levels.
  • Adrenaline levels did not show a significant correlation with burn size.

Conclusions:

  • Pediatric burn injuries elicit a sensitive endocrine stress response.
  • The magnitude of the stress hormone response is closely related to the severity (size) of the burn injury in children.

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