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Editorial
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Volume 345:1271-1272 October 25, 2001 Number 17
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A Great Constitutional Disturbance

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 by Herndon, D. N.
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Serious injury causes "a great constitutional disturbance," as Daniel Drake, a surgeon, said in describing his own burn injury in 1830.1 The disturbance includes an initial "ebb phase" of immediate post-injury hypoperfusion, followed by an intense and often protracted "flow phase" characterized by fever, hyperdynamic circulation, insulin-resistant hyperglycemia, and protein catabolism that persists throughout the period of recovery or until death.2 The changes are thought to be driven by some combination of tissue hypoxia, breakdown of the gut barrier, evaporative water loss, and infection. Unfortunately, the biology behind this response, which occurs in most mammals, has proved so complex that . . . [Full Text of this Article]

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