RESEARCH Choice of anesthetic techn

Full list of author information is available at the end of the articleBackground Surgery provokes hemodynamic, metabolic, and inflam-matory responses; it also provokes a complex immune reaction [1] that includes activation of the interleukin network [2]. For example, surgery and anesthesia provoke an increase in proinflammatory interleukins and adhesion molecules, and a subsequent increase in countervailing anti-inflammatory interleukins [3-5]. The most important proinflammatory interleukin is IL-6, while the most potent anti-inflammatory interleukin is IL-10. Cell adhesion molecules (CAMs) are members of the immunoglobulin family and are regulated by the inflammatory interleukins [6]. CAMs promote wound healing [7,8] and can also promote tumor progression and metastasis [9,10], either directly or by promoting overproduction of inflammatory interleukins. The mecha