The metabolic changes associated with trauma and sepsis

Developments in critical care medicine have increased the chances of survival of those patients with severe trauma or established sepsis. However, such patients often have a prolonged critical illness, and the ensuing catabolic response can have detrimental effects causing a depletion of body weight, tissue mass and stored nutrients. In order to facilitate treatment and minimise the effects of these catabolic changes, both the mediators of this response and the response itself have been studied. This paper explores the current understanding of the metabolic changes that occur in trauma and sepsis, and how these changes alter carbohydrate, fat and protein metabolism.