ABSTRACT
The main surgical side effects and complications in many cases are due to the long duration of the anesthesia. Obviously these phenomena are related to the use of anesthetic drugs which have effects on liver blood flow, immune system and homeostasis. One important effect is activation of complement system. In this study we tried to evaluate and compare the effect of general and regional anesthesia on the activation of complement system. This was an analytic, descriptive and cross sectional study. 30 fresh serum samples were taken from 2 groups of patients undergoing orthopedic surgery with general and regional anesthesia induction. The samples were collected once before starting the operation and again 24 hours after. Blood samples from patients receiving regional anesthesia were labeled as R1 and R24, and from those exposed to general anesthesia as G1 and G24, according to the sampling time. Hemolytic index of complement activation was evaluated by Kopensky method in veronal buffer system. Significant decreases of complement activation in G group samples were shown after 24-hours. CH50 index in R1 and G1 sample were almost similar. Ch50 index was significantly decreased in G24 samples as compared to R24. No significant differences were observed between R1and R24. The statistical analysis of CH50 index in 2 groups explains that general anesthesia decreases the hemolytic activation of complement system. This study demonstrates the deleterious effect of general anesthesia on the activation of the complement system which constitutes an important defense system against infection