Urinary N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosaminidase as an indicator of renal damage in burned patients*

Summary Urinary levels of the lysosomal enzyme N-acetylbeta-D-glucosaminidase (NAG) were measured in 10 consecutive patients admitted to the Regional Burns Unit at Mount Vernon Hospital. The ages ranged from 10 months to 74 years, and the burns varied in severity from a 10 per cent superficial burn to a full-thickness burn of 65 per cent. In all patients urinary NAG levels were raised in the first 48 hours and in 5 patients a second rise occurred at around the ninth day. It is suggested that even the patient with minimal burns may suffer a degree of renal injury and that a significant proportion of burned patients suffer further renal damage in the second week after the burn.