Immunologic Ramifications of Minimally Invasive Surgery

Surgery is known to cause transient immune suppression, and although the underlying etiology is unclear, it appears to be related, at least in part, to the degree of surgical stress. A growing body of evidence suggests that minimally invasive surgery, which is associated with less surgical trauma and stress, may reduce the degree of immune suppression when compared with open surgery. Experimental data in cell culture, animal, and human models, reviewed in this article, demonstrate differences in many immunologic parameters, although observable differences in clinical outcomes have not been demonstrated to date.