The peritoneal fibrinolytic response to conventional and laparoscopic colonic surgery

Laparoscopic surgery is considered to induce less peritoneal trauma than conventional surgery. The peritoneal plasmin system is important in the processes of peritoneal healing and adhesion formation. The present study assessed the peritoneal fibrinolytic response to laparoscopic and conventional colonic surgery.

Twenty-four patients scheduled for a right colonic resection were enrolled in the trial. Twelve underwent conventional surgery and 12 were operated laparoscopically. Biopsies of the parietal peritoneum were taken at standardized moments during the procedure. Tissue concentrations of tissue-type plasminogen activator (tPA) and its specific activity (tPA-activity), urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA), and plasminogen activator inhibitor type 1 (PAI-1) were measured, using commercial assays.

After mobilization of the colon, peritoneal levels of tPA antigen and activity were significantly higher in the laparoscopic group (p < 0.005) due to a decrease in the conventional group (p < 0.05). At the end of the procedure, the concentrations of tPA antigen and activity significantly (p < 0.05) decreased in the laparoscopic group to levels comparable with the conventional group. Neither uPA antigen nor PAI-1 antigen changed throughout the procedures.

Both conventional and laparoscopic surgery inflict a decrease in tPA antigen and its specific activity. Peritoneal hypofibrinolysis initiates more rapidly during conventional, compared to laparoscopic, surgery, but at the conclusion of the surgery, the effect was the same.