Leucine kinetics in surgical patients I: A study of the effect of surgical ‘stress’

At present there is no consensus about the effect of surgical and accidental trauma on protein metabolism. Leucine kinetics, an index of protein turnover, have been studied in ten patients before intra-abdominal surgery and on either the third (n = 5) or seventh (n = 5) postoperative day. Only small changes in leucine kinetics were noted in the early postoperative study but, by the seventh day, there was evidence of increased synthesis as part of an overall elevation of turnover rates. It is suggested that the previously expressed opinion that protein synthesis is reduced after surgery must be re-examined.