• V Von Dossow, S Baur, M Sander, H Tønnesen, C Marks, C Paschen, G Berger, and C D Spies.
• Department of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, Charité University Medicine Berlin, Campus Mitte, Germany.
• J. Int. Med. Res. 2007 May 1;35(3):395-405.

AbstractThis study investigated the effect of an anaesthetic regimen on the immune response in 40 long-term alcoholic patients undergoing surgery. Patients were randomly allocated to receive either propofol or isoflurane during surgery. Plasma cytokines interleukin (IL)-6 and IL-10 were measured at defined times and rates of post-operative infections were documented. The IL-6/IL-10 ratio significantly increased with propofol compared with isoflurane on day 1 after surgery and the IL-10 level significantly increased with isoflurane on day 1 after surgery. The overall post-operative infection rate was significantly higher in isoflurane-treated patients. Our findings indicate that propofol anaesthesia might be the more favourable regimen, with the IL-6/IL-10 ratio indicating an attenuation of the immune imbalance after surgery in long-term alcoholic patients. These results support the undertaking of a properly powered clinical trial to determine if propofol anaesthesia can reduce the postoperative infection rate in this special patient population.

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