Temperature responses in severely burned children during exercise in a hot environment

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Study examined the thermoregulatory response of burned children to exercise in the heat. Ten children with greater than 40 percent total body surface area burns and 10 non-burned children performed a 30-minute session of treadmill exercise at 75 percent of their peak aerobic power in a heated environment. Intestinal temperature, burned and unburned skin temperature, and heart rate were recorded before exercise, every 2 minutes during exercise, and during recovery. Three of the 10 burned children completed the exercise session in the heat; however, all the non-burned children completed the 30-minute session. One burned child reached a core body temperature greater than 39 degrees centigrade at minute 23. Burned children had significantly higher core body temperature through the first 12 minutes of exercise compared with non-burned children. However, nine of the 10 burned children did not become hyperthermic during exercise in the heat. In this study, hyperthermia did not typically occur in burned children, relative to non-burned children. Whether this is due to an intolerance to exercise in the heat or to an inability to generate sufficient heat during exercise needs to be explored further.

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