Objective To determine the safety and efficacy of propranolol given for 1 year on cardiac function, resting energy expenditure, and body composition in a prospective randomized single-center controlled study in pediatric patients with large burns. Summary Background Data Severe burns trigger a hypermetabolic response that persists for up to 2 years after burn. Propranolol given for 1 month post burn blunts this response. Whether propranolol administration for 1 year after injury provides a continued benefit is currently unclear. Methods One-hundred seventy nine pediatric patients with >30% total body surface area burns were randomized to receive control (n = 89) or 4 mg/kg/d propranolol (n = 90) for 12 months after burn. Changes in resting energy expenditure, cardiac function, and body composition were measured acutely at 3, 6, 9, and 12 months postburn. Statistical analyses included techniques that adjust for non-normality, repeated measures, and regression analyses. P <0.05 was considered significant. Results Long-term propranolol treatment significantly reduced the percent of the predicted heart rate and percent of the predicted resting energy expenditure, decreased accumulation of central mass and central fat, prevented bone loss, and improved lean body mass accretion. There were very few adverse effects from the dose of propranolol used. Conclusions Propranolol treatment for 12 months, following thermal injury, ameliorates the hyperdynamic, hypermetabolic, hypercatabolic, and osteopenic responses in pediatric patients. This study is registered at clinicaltrials.gov, NCT00675714.

Aggressive local therapy with radiation and potentially surgery after initial palliative chemotherapy can improve prognosis for a select group of patients with stage IVB esophageal cancer.

No abstract

No abstract