The endocrine effects of surgical trauma are incompletely understood. We have measured serum levels of cortisol, 17α-hydroxyprogesterone (17-OHP), dehydroepiandrosterone (DHA), 4-androstene-3,17-dione (A4) and total (free + conjugated) estrone (tE1) before, during and up to 6 days after surgery in 30 postmenopausal women undergoing repair of vaginal prolapse. Anesthetic procedures were standardized. During surgery and the early postoperative hours the serum steroid pattern closely resembled that found during a diagnostic ACTH challenge test with a simultaneous increase in all adrenocortical steroids, while tE1 levels were unchanged. During the late postoperative period the levels of cortisol, 17-OHP and A4 were still elevated up to 24 h after surgery while the levels of DHA were normal or even decreased. The postoperative pattern of adrenocortical steroids may reflect a redistribution of the intra-adrenal steroid flux in favor of cortisol production. The tE1 levels were elevated in the early and, most pronounced, in the late postoperative phase. tE1 was positively correlated to A4 in the early but not in the late postoperative phase. The late increase in tE1 probably reflects an impaired bowel function in connection with surgery, leading to increased reabsorption during enterohepatic circulation.