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American Physiological Society (APS) Releases Highlights from It's Peer Reviewed Journals
CHILDREN WITH BURN INJURIES AND EXERCISEEffects of a 12-Week Resistance Exercise Program on Skeletal Muscle Strength in Children with Burn Injuries
Summary: Post-traumatic response to burn injury leads to significant and prolonged skeletal muscle loss and weakness. Conventional rehabilitation programs do not provide the same benefits as resistance exercise programs.
Methodology: Post-traumatic response to burn injury leads to significant and prolonged skeletal muscle loss and weakness, which persist despite standard rehabilitation programs of occupational and physical therapy. In a study led by Oscar E. Suman, and jointly sponsored by the Shriners Hospitals for Children and The University of Texas Medical Branch, researchers investigated whether a resistance exercise program would attenuate muscle loss and weakness that is typically found in children with thermal injury. The researchers assessed the changes in leg muscle strength and lean body mass in children who suffered from severe burns over more than 40 percent of their total body surface area. The patients were randomly placed in either a 12-week standard hospital physical rehabilitation program -- supplemented with an exercise-training program -- or at a home-based rehabilitation program without exercise. Leg muscle strength was assessed both before and after the rehabilitation or training program at an isokinetic speed of 150 degrees per second. Lean body mass was assessed using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry.
Conclusion: The researchers found that participation in a resistance exercise program resulted in a significant improvement in muscle strength, power, and lean body mass compared to a standard rehabilitation program without exercise.
Source: Journal of Applied Physiology, September 2001
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