Burn Wound Excision Drives Acute Hypermetabolism in Mice with Scald Burns

In C57BL/6J mice with scald burns, adding wound excision drives larger acute increases in resting energy expenditure—up to 136% in the first week.

• Why it matters: Burn wound excision is standard clinical care, but most rodent burn models omit it, leaving uncertainty about whether excision contributes to acute burn-linked hypermetabolism and cachexia.
• What they did: Male and female mice (~6 weeks old) were randomized to sham, scald burn, wound excision, or scald burn plus immediate excision (~15% body surface area each) and monitored for 14 days in metabolic cages.
• The result: Compared with control, resting energy expenditure rose 47% with burn, 102% with excision, and 136% with burn+excision (P<0.001), and excision produced greater acute body-mass loss and bone mineral content/density loss than sham or burn alone.

AI summary of the abstract · may contain errors · not medical advice · read the paper.