Systemic stress response during operations for acute abdominal pain performed via laparoscopy or laparotomy in children

We compared the endocrine and metabolic changes during acute emergency abdominal surgery performed using either laparoscopy or laparotomy in children. Twenty-nine children aged 1.5-14 years were assigned to undergo laparoscopy (n = 15) or laparotomy (n = 14) with a standard anaesthesia technique. Arterial blood gases and blood prolactin, cortisol, interleukin-6, glucose, insulin, lactic acid and epinephrine levels were determined 5 min after the induction of anaesthesia, 30 min into surgery and at the end of surgery. Intra-operative heart rate and mean arterial pressure were stable in both groups. In the laparoscopy group, slight respiratory acidosis occurred during surgery (p < 0.01) but there were no changes in the laparotomy group. Insulin, cortisol, prolactin, epinephrine, lactate and blood glucose levels increased in both groups (p < 0.05) although there was no difference between the groups. The surgical stress and trauma imposed by laparoscopy seems similar to that caused by laparotomy in children undergoing emergency abdominal surgery.