Significance of postoperative elevation of urinary ulinastatin after open heart surgery under cardiopulmonary bypass

: To investigate the role of ulinastatin in perioperative stress, we measured the urinary levels of ulinastatin (UTI) in patients subjected to open heart surgery under cardiopulmonary bypass. The UTI levels began to increase on the first postoperative day and reached its maximum level on the third postoperative day. There is a good correlation between the maximum level of urinary UTI and cardiopulmonary bypass time. These results indicate that urinary UTI level can be an indicator of surgical stress.