Serum Protein Changes

It is a well established fact that the circulating proteins of the human are profoundly affected by surgical, accidental and combat trauma. The medical literature on this topic emphasizes the remarkable quantitative and qualitative changes in intracellular and extracellular protein constituents occurring after and in response to injury. Fundamental information concerning these metabolic alterations as well as shifts in body water and electrolytes are of paramount importance in the development of basic concepts of treatment. This study concerns itself with the quantitative changes in the serum electrophoretic pattern of patients who had sustained a thermal injury. Although there is a large body of literature pertaining to the alterations in the various serum electrophoretic protein components in human disease (1-4), there are relatively few reports dealing with postsurgical experiences (5, 6) and thermal trauma (7, 8).