OXIDATIVE STRESS IN CHOLECYSTECTOMY AND POSSIBLE CORRELATION WITH OPERATIVE TIME- A STUDY CONDUCTED AT B.S. MEDICAL COLLEGE, BANKURA, WB, INDIA.

Cholecystectomy, the surgical treatment for chronic cholecystitis, is one of the most common surgical procedures in the surgical inpatient department. But in many cases, even after removing the inflamed gallbladder, the patients continue to suffer from many of the symptoms. Intra-operative stress and tissue injury accentuating an already elevated generation of free radicals due to the inflammation. To analyze the association between the surgical process and the oxidative homeostasis in the body, we noted the time taken during the operation in 51 chronic cholecystitis patients undergoing cholecystectomy (divided in two equal groups of open and laparoscopic surgery), and measured thiobarbituric acid reacting substances (TBARS) and total antioxidant status (TAS) in their serum, 90 minutes and 12 hrs after incision (for both parameters). Pearson's bivariate correlation analysis revealed operating time to have a statistically significant positive correlation with the TBARS level and a statistically significant negative correlation with the TAS level. The present study suggests a check in the operating time may well predict the probable cases of higher post operative oxidative stress and thus of post operative complications. Post operative antioxidant therapy may be considered as beneficial adjuvant in the cholecystectomy patients, especially in those cases where longer operative time was taken.