The impact of burn injury on the central nervous system

Amira Allahham; Grant Rowe; Andrew Stevenson; Mark W Fear; Ann-Maree Vallence; Fiona M Wood

doi:10.1093/burnst/tkad037

The impact of burn injury on the central nervous system

Burns Trauma. 2024 Feb 1:12:tkad037. doi: 10.1093/burnst/tkad037. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Amira Allahham^{1

2}, Grant Rowe³, Andrew Stevenson^{1

2}, Mark W Fear^{1

2}, Ann-Maree Vallence^{3

4

5}, Fiona M Wood^{1

2

6}

Affiliations

¹ Burn injury research unit, School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, Perth, WA 6009, Australia.
² Fiona Wood Foundation, 11 Robin Warren Dr, Murdoch WA 6150, Australia.
³ Centre for Molecular Medicine and Innovative Therapeutics, Murdoch University, 90 South Street, Murdoch, Perth 6150, Australia.
⁴ Centre for Healthy Ageing, Health Futures Institute, Murdoch University, 90 South Street, Murdoch Perth 6150, Australia.
⁵ Burn Service of Western Australia, Fiona Stanley Hospital, MNH (B), Level 4, 102-118 Murdoch Drive, Murdoch, Perth, WA 6150, Australia.
⁶ School of Psychology, College of Health and Education, Murdoch University, 90 South Street, Murdoch, Perth 6150, Australia.

Abstract

Burn injuries can be devastating, with life-long impacts including an increased risk of hospitalization for a wide range of secondary morbidities. One area that remains not fully understood is the impact of burn trauma on the central nervous system (CNS). This review will outline the current findings on the physiological impact that burns have on the CNS and how this may contribute to the development of neural comorbidities including mental health conditions. This review highlights the damaging effects caused by burn injuries on the CNS, characterized by changes to metabolism, molecular damage to cells and their organelles, and disturbance to sensory, motor and cognitive functions in the CNS. This damage is likely initiated by the inflammatory response that accompanies burn injury, and it is often long-lasting. Treatments used to relieve the symptoms of damage to the CNS due to burn injury often target inflammatory pathways. However, there are non-invasive treatments for burn patients that target the functional and cognitive damage caused by the burn, including transcranial magnetic stimulation and virtual reality. Future research should focus on understanding the mechanisms that underpin the impact of a burn injury on the CNS, burn severity thresholds required to inflict damage to the CNS, and acute and long-term therapies to ameliorate deleterious CNS changes after a burn.

Keywords: Brain; Burn; Central nervous system; Inflammation; Injury; Spinal cord.

Publication types

Review