- Labored breathing or tachypnea (rapid breathing) and other signs of reduced oxygen
levels
- Erythema and blistering of the oral or pharyngeal mucosa
- The immediate intervention is intubation and mechanical ventilation
- If ventilation is impaired by restricted chest excursion, immediate chest escharotomy
is needed
- ARDS may develop in the first few days after the burn injury secondary to systemic
and pulmonary responses to the burn and inhalation injury
Renal alteration
- Renal function may be altered as a result of decreased blood volume
- Destruction of red blood cells at the injury site frees hemoglobin in the urine
- If muscle damage occurs (from electric burns e..) myoglobin is released from the
muscle cells and excreted by the kidney
- Adequate fluid volume replacement restores renal blood flow, increasing the
glomerular filtration rate and urine volume
- If there is inadequate blood flow through the kidneys, the hemoglobin and myoglobin
occlude the renal tubules, resultinh in acute tubular necrosis and renal failure
Immunologic Alterations
- The immunologic defences of the body are greatly altered by burn injury
- Serious burn injury diminishes resistance to the infection
- As a result, sepsis remains the leading cause of death in thermally injured patients
- The loss of skin integrity is compounded by the release of abnormal inflammatory
factors, altered levels of immunglobulins, impared neutrophil function and a reduction
in lymphocytes (lymphocytopeni)
- Research suggests that burn injury results in loss of T -helper.cell lymphocytes
Thermoregulatory Alterations
- Loss of skin results in an inability to regulate body temperature
- Burn patients may therefore exhibit low body temperature in the early hours after
injury
- As of hypermetabolism, core temperature increase.