Abstract
Low T3 concentration has been reported in non thyroidal illness and after surgical stress in adults, unaccompanied by alterations in TSH values. Changes in thyroid hormones were sought in healthy infants undergoing elective, minor surgical procedures, in an attempt to investigate whether or not in this developmental stage a healthy hypothalamic - thyroid peripheral axis shows analogous alterations. T3, T4, TSH were determined by radioimmunoassay, prior to surgery (I), immediately after recovery (II), 24 and 48 hours post operatively in infants with a mean age of 4 mos. All samples from the same subject were determined simultaneously. The results are as follows (mean ±SEM)
The data suggest that even short, minor operations in infancy cause a progressive decrease in T3 concentration, lasting for at least 48 hours. The primary phenomenon seems to be a decrease in T3 concentration of unknown mechanism wich apparently provokes transient, small TSH rises and no detectable changes in T4 concentration.
Article PDF
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Papas, D., Mouras, G. & Dacou-Voutetakis, C. University Changes in Thyroid hormones during surgical stress in healthy infants. Pediatr Res 18, 1223 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198411000-00133
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198411000-00133