Major open abdominal surgery is associated with increased levels of endothelial damage and interleukin-6.

Objective: To examine changes in biomarkers of endothelial glycocalyx shedding, endothelial damage, and surgical stress following major open abdominal surgery and the correlation to postoperative morbidity.

Introduction: Major abdominal surgery is associated with high levels of postoperative morbidity. Two possible reasons are the surgical stress response and the impairment of the glycocalyx and endothelial cells.