The Effects of Stomach Cancer Surgery on Immunomodulation and Neuroendocrine Response: Comparison of Anesthesia and Analgesia Methods / 대한마취과학회지

BACKGROUND: Authors have undertaken this study to see if the choice of anesthesia can directly or indirectly provide immunomodulation for cytokines, to determine the relationship of cytokines and hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis in stomach cancer surgery patients, and also to see whether the amount of morphine administration and choice of analgesia can influence cytokine release, and possibly immunity. METHODS: Total 19 gastric cancer surgery patients were randomly assigned in double-blind fashion into two groups. Group-G (n=9) was provided with general anesthesia plus morphine intravenous patient controlled analgesia (IV-PCA), whereas group-GE (n=10) with preemptive epidural and general anesthesia plus continuous epidural analgesia for control of postoperative pain. At predetermined time interval, proinflammatory cytokines and stress hormones were evaluated with visual analog pain scale. Simultaneous assessments of operating and anesthesia time, total morphine doses, the time to recovery of gastrointestinal function and incidences of complications were also made. RESULTS: Demographic data, the durations of operation and anesthesia and recovery of gastrointestinal function were similar in both groups. Total morphine doses were approximately four times greater in group-G. Secretions of interleukin-1 beta , TNF and epinephrine were blocked by preemptive epidural anesthesia, meanwhile, interleukin-6 as well as ACTH and cortisol were not. After 24 hours after skin incision, the differences of cytokines, ACTH and cortisol between two groups were dissipated. In spite of these hormonal findings, visual analog pain scale could not disclose any differences. Incidences of complications were statistically insignificant except that of itching in group-GE. CONCLUSION: Preemptive epidural anesthesia and analgesia can partially block only some of cytokines and stress hormones, and these effects do not have clinically relevant long term influences. The amounts and means of morphine administered by continuous epidural analgesia block or IV-PCA demonstrated no evidence of immunosuppression at clinical dose range.

Cytokines Production and Ultrafiltration in Patients Undergoing Cardiopulmonary Bypass during Coronary Artery Surgery / 대한마취과학회지

BACKGROUND: An increase in total body water and the systemic inflammatory response occurs during cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) which has resulted in the release of inflammatory mediators, including tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNFalpha), interleukin-1beta, interleukin-6,and interleukin-8. These substances were suggested to be responsible for postoperative organ dysfunction and morbidity. Conventional ultrafiltration (cUF) and modified ultrafiltration (mUF) were used in cardiac operations to reduce volume overload and total body water. The purpose of this study was to estimate the value of these techniques in removing inflammatory mediators during CPB. METHODS: Serial plasma samples were taken before CPB,after 1 hour of CPB, just before cUF, after cUF, after mUF and 24 hrs after bypass. Cytokines were detected using highly specific double-ligand enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. The data were analyzed using the repeated measurement ANOVA. RESULTS: TNFalpha, interleukin-1beta, interleukin-6, and interleukin-8 were increased during CPB and peaked just before cUF. After cUF, all four cytokines had been significantly decreased. After mUF,interleukin-6 and interleukin-8 had significantly been decreased, but TNFalpha and interleukin-1beta did not change significantly. After 24 hours of CPB , TNFalpha and interleukin-8 returned to preCPB values, but interleukin-1beta and interleukin-6 did not. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that ultrafiltration has the potential to remove cytokines from the circulation. The ultrafiltration technique may be a useful technique in the management of patients undergoing bypass, particularly in patients at high risk of accumulating fluids and inflammatory reactions.