[Phagocytic link of immunity in patients surgically treated for chronic calculous cholecystitis]

Twenty-two females, 38 to 75 years of age, who underwent planned operation for chronic uncomplicated calculous cholecystitis were examined in the pre- and postoperative period. Postoperative pneumonia developed in 4 (13.4%) patients, no other complications occurred. Functional neutrophil activity was studied according to the following parameters: spontaneous and induced NBT test, myeloperoxidase activity, amount of cationic proteins, expression of Fc receptors, spontaneous and induced luminol-dependent chemiluminescence, neutrophil bactericidal action against H-thymidine-labelled Staphylococcus aureus (strain 209), amount of blood immunoglobulins, and the modulating effect of serum of patients on the chemiluminescence of neutrophils of healthy donors. The control group consisted of 35 volunteers whose ages ranged from 18 to 50 years. Basic differences were revealed between the indices of neutrophil activity in patients with an uneventful postoperative period and those of patients with infectious complications in the preoperative period which became much graver in the early postoperative period. This suggests that neutrophilic dysfunctions play a significant role in the development of postoperative infectious complications in this category of patients.