title: To study the levels of C - reactive protein and total leucocyte count in patients operated of open and laparoscopic cholecystectomy.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The recovery from laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) is rapid and most of the patients are discharged on the 1st post-operative day. There is an increased concentration of certain serum proteins, known as acute-phase reactive proteins (APRP) during the post-operative period depends on the degree of tissue damage and the inflammatory reaction. There is a direct positive correlation between the concentrations of APRP, especially C-reactive protein (CRP), and the severity of inflammation. This study was done to study the levels of C - reactive protein and Total Leucocyte Count in patients operated either by Open Cholecystectomy (OC) and Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy (LC).
  
  
  METHODS
  This prospective study was conducted on 50 patients after approval from the Institutional Ethics Committee. Twenty five patients underwent open cholecystectomy and the other 25 had laparoscopic cholecystectomy. The pre and post operative concentrations of serum C-reactive protein (CRP) and total leukocyte count (TLC) were compared in both the groups.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were no differences in the preoperative serum CRP and TLC concentrations - in both the groups. Serum CRP rose significantly following OC compared to that of patients who underwent LC (10.52 ± 1.96 mg% vs. 8.88 ± 1.23 mg %). There were also significant differences in the post-operative TLC ( 9.49 ± 1.05 m/mm3 for the OC group vs. 8.57 ± 1.31 m/mm3 for the LC group), and the post-operative hospital stay (5.5 ±1.5 days vs. 1.9 ± 0.9 days). There was no correlation between serum CRP concentrations and the other post-operative parameters.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The study provided the biochemical evidence supporting the clinical observation that LC is far less traumatic to the patient than OC.
authors.affiliation: Ex-Resident, Department of General Surgery, Government Medical College and Rajindra Hospital , Patiala, India .
authors.forename: Ritesh
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kohli
authors.affiliation: ID Fellow, Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital , Virginia, U.S.A .
authors.forename: Ekta
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bansal
authors.affiliation: Associate Professor, Department of Pharmacology, Gian Sagar Medical College , Ram Nagar, Rajpura, Patiala, India .
authors.forename: Ashwani K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Gupta
authors.affiliation: Associate Professor, Department of Pharmacology, Gian Sagar Medical College , Ram Nagar, Rajpura, Patiala, India .
authors.forename: Prithpal S
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Matreja
authors.affiliation: Medical Officer, Civil Hospital , Amritsar, India .
authors.forename: Kulwinder
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kaur
keywords: Cholecystectomy; Laparoscopy; Patients; Surgery