Rehabilitation after Severe Somatic Trauma
Extensive burn injury affects all integrating systems in the organism (i.e. nervous, endocrine and immune) and victims exhibit widely differing premorbid characteristics, particularly with respect to psychiatric history, personality and socioeconomic background. This project focuses on the interaction between
individual variables and trauma related variables for the final outcome.
Hypothetical interactions that shape the final outcome after severe burn injury
treatment interact and "shape" the final outcome. More specifically we will investigate: i) personality characteristics, coping strategies, psychiatric history and cognitive processes, and relate such characteristics to acute and long-term outcome with respect to psychological, physical and social adaptation, ii) the stress response caused by trauma, treatment and care
and relate this, with focus on the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA)-axis, to psychiatric morbidity, personality, coping and cognitive functioning, iii) relations with genes that are related to various aspects of the stress response, iv) signs of neurobiological alterations using neuroimaging techniques, and finally v) sex and gender differences in stress response and outcome.
Patients treated for severe burn injuries are assessed prospectively. This project will generate valuable information on neurobiological stress responses and their relation to psychic and somatic adaptation after severe burn trauma. Since burn injury provides an excellent model for severe trauma with an increased risk for e.g. PTSD the results can be generalized and facilitate treatment strategies that can improve outcome also after other severe physical trauma with an increased risk for psychiatric morbidity.
Contact
Lisa Ekselius
Bengt Gerdin
Mimmie Willebrand
Morten Kildal
Departments
Department of Neuroscience
Department of Surgical Sciences
Department of Medical Sciences
Department of Radiology, Oncology and Radiation Science
Partners
Docent Mats Stridsberg, UU
Professor Elias Eriksson, Göteborgs universitet
Professor Gerhard Andersson, Linköpings universitet
Professor Folke Sjöberg, Linköpings universitet
Professor Elna Marie Larsson, UU
Keywords
burn injury, psychiatric morbidity, stress response, Quality of Life
Undergraduate programs at Uppsala University that are related to this research
University Medical Degree Programme
Bachelor of Science Programme in Nursing
