[Cortisol determination before and after surgical treatments and associated methods in young pigs]

138 weaned pigs have been examined for clinical and immunological parameters as well as cortisol from the day before to eight days after surgery (scrotal-hernias, cryptorchidisms). Important alterations in cortisol concentrations were found neither by the surgical intervention itself nor by accompanying measures like food restraint (48 hours), diagnostic blood sampling (venipuncture) and infectious prophylaxis (chemoprophylaxis, para-immunization). Therefore, chronically pathological stress reactions following routine surgical interventions may be excluded. Single elevations of serum cortisol above the physiological range (8-60 ng/ml) on the day after surgery without typically clinical stress symptoms and correlations to the cell mediated immunity may be interpreted as positive physiological stress reactions in connection with an elevated efficiency.