Can the use of growth hormone reduce the postoperative fatigue syndrome?
Convalescence after surgery is characterized by a period of fatigue (POF). If we assume that the POF syndrome has a multifactorial etiology, it is clear that the aim of therapeuticmeasures should be to reduce the response to surgical stress. The purpose of the present study was to determine if administeringexogenous human growth hormone (hGH) can prevent the developmentor reduce the duration of the POF. We carried out aplacebo-controlled randomized double-blind trial with 48 patientsafter elective cholecystectomy (placebo, or control group, n =26; hGH-treated group, n = 22). Eligibility criteria were strict so as to introduce as few variables as possible. The results obtained in the study show that for moderate surgical injury (cholecystectomy in metabolically healthy subjects) the administering of low doses of hGH (8 IU/day) minimized the POF syndrome (Christensen score). Furthermore, a positive nitrogenbalance was achieved in the hGH-treated group during thepostoperative period from
