Objective: to evaluate and compare the early postoperative period systemic inflammatory response between elderly and non-elderly patients submitted to laparoscopic cholecystectomy, mainly performing a quantitative analysis of interleukin-6 (IL-6), a marker of inflammatory activity systemic. Methods: we compared a series of cases over a period of six months at the Gaffrée and Guinle University Hospital of the Federal University of the State of Rio de Janeiro, involving 60 patients submitted to elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy. We used non-probabilistic sampling for convenience, selecting, from the inclusion criteria, the first 30 patients aged 18-60 years, who comprised group I, and 30 patients with age equal to or greater than 60 years, who formed group II. Results: the 60 patients involved were followed for at least 30 days after surgery and there were no complications. There was no conversion to open surgery. The values of the medians found in the IL-6 dosages for the preoperative period, three hours after the procedure and 24 hours after surgery were, respectively, 3.1 vs. 4.7 pg/ml, 7.3 vs. 14.1 pg/ml and 4.4 vs 13.3 pg/ml. Conclusion: Elderly patients were more responsive to surgical trauma and had elevated IL-6 levels for a longer period than the non-elderly group.

VLP is a safe procedure capable of improving the accuracy of gastric cancer staging. There is no justification for failing to perform laparoscopy in patients with <8 cm, non-Borrmann type IV tumors and without evidence of lymphadenomegaly on preoperative examinations.