Assessment of muscle function in severely burned children

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Abstract:

Introduction: The posttraumatic response to a severe burn leads to marked and prolonged
skeletal muscle catabolism and weakness, which persist despite standard rehabilitation
programs of occupational and physical therapy. We investigated the degree to which the
prolonged skeletal muscle catabolism affects the muscle function of children 6 months after
severe burn.
Methods: Burned children, with >40% total body surface area burned, were assessed at 6
months after burn in respect to lean body mass and leg muscle strength at 1508/s. Lean body
mass was assessed using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Leg muscle strength was
assessed using isokinetic dynamometry. Nonburned children were assessed similarly,
and served as controls.
Results: We found that severely burned children (n = 33), relative to nonburned children
(n = 46) had significantly lower lean body mass. Additionally they had significantly lower
peak torque as well total work performance using the extensors of the thigh.
Conclusions: Our results serve as an objective and a practical clinical approach for assessing
muscle function and also aid in establishing potential rehabilitation goals, and monitoring
progress towards these goals in burned children.

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