Preoperative oral application of immunoglobulin-enriched colostrum milk and mediator response during abdominal surgery.

Our objective was to evaluate the influence of pre-operative oral application of an immunoglobulin-enriched milk preparation on endotoxin translocation and mediator release during and after abdominal surgery. Forty patients who had been treated by partial (n = 4) or total gastrectomy (n = 8) or pancreatic resection (n = 28) were enrolled in a placebo-controlled pilot study. Pre-operatively, patients were randomly treated for 3 days by oral application of a bovine milk preparation (lactobin 56g/day, n = 20) or placebo (n = 20).