PERIPHERAL EDEMA AFTER ESOPHAGECTOMY

Patients who have undergone major surgery such as esophagectomy may de velop peripheral edema in the immediate postoperative period, the caus e of which is not fully understood. The purpose of this study was ther efore to determine the mechanism of this phenomenon. Finger edema was measured as a marker for peripheral edema before and after esophagecto my in eight patients. Plasma interleukin-6 (IL-6) was also measured by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Finger edema markedly increased in the immediate postoperative period and remained significantly elev ated until after postoperative day (POD) 3 compared to the preoperativ e value (P < 0.05). Plasma IL-6 also markedly increased in the immedia te postoperative period and remained significantly elevated on POD 2 c ompared to the preoperative value (P < 0.05). The degree of finger ede ma highly correlated with the level of plasma IL-6 (r = 0.71, P = 0.00 01). These findings indicate that peripheral edema after esophagectomy might be caused by a proinflammatory cytokine response.