Effect of surgical stress on neutrophil function

The present study was undertaken to find out the effect of surgical stress on nonspecific immune response. Twenty patients posted for various elective surgeries participated in the study (male : 17, female : 3, age : 43.4 +/- 2 yrs). The blood samples were taken preoperatively (4 to 6 days prior to surgery) and the following parameters were assessed: phagocytic index of neutrophils, avidity index of neutrophils and percentage of neutrophils in differential count. These were compared with the respective parameters assessed in the blood samples taken 24 hours after surgery. There was a significant (P = 0.0001) decrease in the phagocytic index of neutrophil and a significant (P = 0.003) increase in the percentage of neutrophils in differential count in the postoperative blood samples. However, the avidity index did not show a significant change. It could be tentatively concluded that surgical stress causes depression of nonspecific immunity in the early postoperative period.