24 March 2026 : Review article
Review of the Effects of Anesthetic Techniques and Medications on the Immune Response During the Perioperative Period
Paweł Radkowski
ABCDEFG 1,2,3, Marta Joanna Pisula ABCDEF 4, Dawid Kamil Malicki ABCDEF 5, Maciej Szewczyk ABCDEF 6*, Karolina Marczuk ABCDEF 7, Mateusz Mamala ABCDEF 8, Łukasz Grabarczyk ABCDEFG 9
DOI: 10.12659/MSM.951077
Med Sci Monit 2026; 32:e951077
Introduction
The Immune System’s Structure and Functions
Activation of Innate and Adaptive Immunity in Response to Surgical Injury
General Anesthesia as a Modulator of the Inflammatory and Immune Response in Surgical Patients
Immunomodulatory Mechanisms of Action of General Anesthesia
Methodological Considerations and Limitations
Effects of Inhalation Anesthetics on the Immune System
Controversial Findings and Interpretative Variability
Conclusions
Future Directions
References
Figure 1 Two-phase immune response to surgical injury [5]. DAMPs – damage-associated molecular patterns; PRRs – pattern recognition receptors; TLR – toll-like receptor; IL-1 – interleukin 1; IL-6 – interleukin 6; TNF-α – tumor necrosis factor alpha; Th1 – T helper 1 cells; Th2 – T helper 2 cells; Th17 – T helper 17 cells; Treg – regulatory T lymphocytes.