Objective: To investigate the changes in protein catabolism and immunocompetence in severely burned patients after operations and observe the therapeutic effect of recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH) in these patients.
Methods: The changes in plasma protein concentration and immune function and the clinical results of 38 severely burned patients after three operations were retrospectively analyzed. These patients were assigned to GroupI(control, n=20) and GroupII (rhGH treatment, n=18), and matched for age, total body surface area (TBSA), surgical approaches and times, perioperative bleeding volume and nutrition support etc. The patients in groupII received intramuscular injection with 0.2-0.4 U/d x kg x b.w. rhGH after the first operation, till the healing of the wounds.
Results: The concentration of retina-binding protein, transferrin, prealbumin, albumin, and IgG, the number of CD4 and CD8 cells, as well as the ratio of CD4/CD8 cells prior to the operation were below the normal levels in the two groups of patients. All these indexes in GroupII recovered to a great extent after three operations and were significantly higher than those in GroupI(P<0.05).
Conclusion: Nutritious state and immunocompetence of patients with severe burns are severely compromised after operations, and nutrition support and rhGH treatment may produce rapid improvement of the patients' conditions.