Impairment of blood fibrinolytic activity during major surgical stress under combined extradural blockade and general anaesthesia.

Blood fibrinolytic activity and plasma cortisol concentrations were investigated in 15 patients undergoing upper or lower abdominal surgery under high or low extradural blockade plus general anesthesia. It was found that the initial enhancement of fibrinolysis could be prevented but only in those patients showing impaired cortisol responses. This suggests a common nervous mechanism unrelated to the degree of sensory blockade.