Studies in Surgical Endocrinology

Variations of Plasma Cortisol and Blood Fibrinolytic Activity During Anaesthetic and Surgical Stress

“…However, cortisol and blood fibrinolytic activity as a measure of stress was not shown to be influenced to a major degree by preoperative anxiety and premedication (Price, Thaler and Mason, 1957;Hammond et al, 1958;Scrivastava, 1969). General anaesthesia itself appears to have no constant effect on blood levels of adrenal steroids, observed changes depending on the particular agent employed, ether and cyclopropane having the most pronounced effea (Hammond et al, 1958). In the present work we could not demonstrate any statistically significant difference between cortisol values during the surgical procedures.…”

“…During recent years a number of reports have shown that plasma cortisol levels and blood fibrinolytic activity fluctuate during major surgery. Anaesthesia and surgery cause a definite increase of plasma cortisol (Virtue and Helmreich, 1957;Hammond et al, 1958;Oyama et al, 1968;Plumpton, Besser and Cole, 1969) and also cause increased blood fibrinolytic activity (MacFarlane and Biggs, 1946;von Kaulla, 1947;Andersson, Nilsson and Olow, 1962;Mansfield, 1970;Brown et al, 1971). Although plasma cortisol levels and blood fibrinolytic activity may thus be related, to our knowledge they have never been investigated simultaneously during stress.…”