Peritoneal interleukin-6, interleukin-8 and granulocyte elastase activity after elective abdominal surgery

In this study we investigated the interleukin-8 concentration (IL-8) and granulocyte elastase activity (GE) after elective abdominal surgery. Postoperative interleukin-6 (IL-6), IL-8 concentrations and GE in the peritoneal fluid were examined in 27 patients who underwent various types of elective abdominal surgery. We compared these results with clinical parameters of surgical stress, operating time (OT) and blood loss during the operation (BL). P-IL-6 and P-IL-8 were significantly correlated with OT (P-IL-6; r = 0.67, P < 0.001: P-IL-8; r = 0.59, P < 0.001) and BL (P-IL-6; r = 0.61, P < 0.001: P-IL-8: r = 0.48, P < 0.01). P-IL-8 was significantly correlated with P-IL-6 (r = 0.68, P < 0.001) and there was a positive correlation between GE and P-IL-8 (r = 0.37, P < 0.05). These findings indicate that IL-8 might activate granulocytes in the peritoneal cavity after elective abdominal surgery and that assaying P-IL-6 and P-IL-8 is useful in assessing the host's response to surgical stress.