Immune perturbations in patients along the perioperative period: alterations in cell surface markers and leukocyte subtypes before and after surgery.

Background: Surgery renders patients susceptible to life-threatening complications, including infections, multiple organ failure, and presumably cancer metastases. Surgery-induced immune perturbations were suggested to contribute to such deleterious effects, but also to facilitate post-injury healing. Preoperative psychological and physiological stress responses may contribute to these immune perturbations, and could thus jeopardize patients even before surgery.

Blood rheology in PCA and PCEA after total knee arthroplasty.

The rheological events in 2 groups of patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty were compared--15 patients were given general anesthesia and controlled their postoperative pain applying intravenous patient-controlled analgesia; 17 individuals received combined spinal-epidural anesthesia and controlled their postoperative pain by patient-controlled epidural analgesia (PCEA). Twenty-four and 48 hours after surgery, the patient-controlled analgesia group showed a significant increase in whole-blood viscosity at the 3 shear rates (P < .01), as well as in relative viscosity at both periods (P < .

Effect of a BIOcocktail on the immune response at the early postoperative period in mice.

Since human subjects and laboratory animals may develop impaired immune response during surgery and the postoperative period, efforts have been made to preserve normal immune functions following surgery by the administration of nutritional supplements and probiotics. The present study was designed to examine the effect of a new nutritional supplement, BIOcocktail, on immune parameters in mice exposed to surgery. Forty mice were assigned to 4 groups containing 10 animals each.

Rheological events following laparoscopic and conventional laparotomy.

Laparoscopic surgery has become a widely used procedure with many advantages compared to conventional laparotomy. Although rare, this technique is not entirely absent from clinical hazards and particularly thromboembolic events. This complication is due to activation of the coagulation cascade, as well as factors that may cause alterations in blood rheology.