[Postoperative hyperamylasemia: determination of serum isoamylases following surgery of the parotid gland (author's transl)].

Postoperative hyperamylasemia is found in 6 to 32% of patients undergoing abdominal and extraabdominal surgery. The minority of these patients exhibited the clinical signs of a postoperative pancreatitis. Isoamylase analysis revealed that the rise was in the pancreatic-type isoamylases or in the salivary-type isoamylases. We found an elevation of serum amylase following surgery of the parotid gland in 18 out of 20 patients, but the amylase levels were still below the normal upper limit. In 12 cases the increase of amylase activity was due to an increase of the salivary and pancreatic components of the serum amylase. 6 patients showed an increase of the pancreatic component only. The causes of the non-specific hyperamylasemia could lie in the operation itself, in the intubation and in pharmacons used during anaesthesia.