Effects of escharectomy during shock stage on energy metabolism in burned rats

Objective: To investigate the influence of. escharectomy during shock stage on the energy metabolism as well as some related factors in bured rats. Methods: Thirty two Wistar rats inflicted with 30% TBSA Ⅲ degree scalds were employed as model and were divided into scalding control （SC）, and treading groups （T）. The latter was further divided into three subgroups according to the time of escharectomy, i.e. 8 postburn hour （PBHs） （T8）, 24 PBHs （T24） and 96 PBHs （T96） groups. The rats were killed in 168h postburns. Eight rats were designed as normal control （NC）. The levels of ATP content, energy charge （EC） in skeletal muscle and liver, as well as TNFα, arachidonic acid, glucagon and cortisol in plasma were determined. Results: （1）The levels of TNFα and arachidonic acid increased significantly postburns and both of them decreased after receiving escharectomy. The levels of TNFα in T8 and T24 as well as arachidonic acid in T8 were significantly lower than those in SC. There were not significant changes of glucagon and cortisol in all the groups. （2） In skeletal muscle, ATP content in SC was significantly lower than that in NC. EC decreased to some extent too. ATP content and EC restored partially after receiving escharectomy. ATP contents in T8 and T24, EC in T8 were significantly higher than those in SC. In liver, ATP contents decreased significantly postburns. After receiving escharectomy in 24h postburns, EC restored partially and was significantly higher than that in SC. Conclusion: Decreased ATP contents and EC in certain tissues were important manifestations of hypermetabolism after major burns. To conduct escharectomy during shock stage could help to restore both of ATP contents and EC in the tissues as well as depress hypermetabolism.