COMPARISON OF SERUM C-REACTIVE PROTEIN CONCENTRATIONS FOR LAPAROSCOPIC VERSUS OPEN CHOLECYSTECTOMY

In an attempt to quantify the difference in tissue damage between open cholecystectomy (OC) and laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC), we have c ompared in a prospective manner the pre- and postoperative concentrati ons of serum C-reactive protein (CRP) in 17 patients undergoing LC and 13 patients undergoing OC. In addition, we measured the pre- and post operative white blood cell counts (WBC), the postoperative body temper ature, and the postoperative duration of hospitalization. There were n o differences in the preoperative serum CRP concentrations-5.9 +/- 2.6 2 mg/l (mean +/- SD) for the LC group and 6.12 +/- 2.3 and mg/l for th e OC group. Serum CRP rose markedly following OC compared to that of p atients who underwent LC (128.6 +/- 45.1 mg/l vs 26.8 +/- 10.5 mg/l) ( P < 0.001). There were also significant differences in the postoperati ve WBC count (14,000 +/- 2,900 cells for the OC group vs 10,600 +/- 3, 000 cells for the LC group), the postoperative body temperature (37.5 +/- 0.3 degrees C vs 37.0 +/- 0.3 degrees C), and the postoperative ho spital stay (5.5 +/- 1.5 days vs 1.9 +/- 0.9 days). There was no corre lation between serum CRP concentrations and the other postoperative pa rameters, These results provide us with biochemical evidence supportin g the clinical observation that LC is far less traumatic to the patien t than OC.