There is some evidence to suggest that certain laparoscopic procedures have been associated with lower cytokine levels when compared with their open counterparts.37 38 IL-6 is of particular interest, given that its release has been linked with postoperative systemic inflammatory response syndrome.39 Unfortunately, the majority of cytokine samples (18 out of 20) in this series were from patients undergoing VATS, so confirmation of this could not be made here. Here, IL6 is linked to systemic inflammatory response syndrome.