[Blood levels of cortisol and prolactin. Are they indices of the degree of protection against surgical stress?]

Abstract

The paper evaluates the level of analgesic protection by assaying cortisol and prolactin levels in two groups of 20 patients each undergoing general anesthesia using two different techniques: TIVA with propofol and fentanyl, and BPN-nitrous oxide. The results showed that TIVA caused a very slight increase in residue cortisol which was, however, within normal limits. With BPN-nitrous oxide anesthesia there was a greater increase in cortisol, reaching a statistically significant level in blood collected one hour after the end of surgery. With regard to prolactin, there was a marked increase in this hormone using both techniques although in percentage terms this increase was lower in TIVA. These results show that plasma prolactin is a more sensitive test than cortisol assay in evaluating antalgic protection and that, of the two anesthetic techniques used, the most protective appears to be TIVA with propofol and fentanyl.