Objective To investigate the effects of hand assistant laporoscopic splenectomy plus pericardial devascularization on systemic stress responses. Methods Forty patients with cirrhotic portal hypertension were selected， 20 cases of which were underwent hand assistant laparoscopic splenectomy plus pericardial devascularization (LAP group)， and the other 20 were underwent open splenectomy plus pericardial devascularization (OP group). The levels of blood glucose （BG）, insulin (Ins), triiodothyronine （T3）, tetraiodothyronine （T4）, corticosteroid （CS） and other related clinical data were measured before operation and on day 1-3 after operation, which were compared between two groups. Results There was no statistical significance between two groups on those levels before operation. On day 1 after operation， BG and CS level in both two groups were higher than those before operation (P＜0.05), but they were recovered on day 2 after operation in LAP group (Pgt;0.05), and on day 3 after operation in OP group (Pgt;0.05). BG and CS level in OP group were markedly higher than those in LAP group on day 2 after operation (P＜0.05). On day 1 after operation， Ins, T3 and T4 level of two groups were lower than those before operation (P＜0.05), but they were recovered on day 2 after operation in LAP group (Pgt;0.05) and on day 3 after operation in OP group (Pgt;0.05). Ins, T3 and T4 level in OP group were lower than those in LAP group on day 2 after operation (P＜0.05). There was no significant difference in operation time between two groups (Pgt;0.05). But laparoscopic surgery had more advantages than conventional open surgery such as reducing bleeding quantity in operation, shortening recovery time of bowel and urinary bladder function and the length of stay. Conclusion Compared with laparotomy, the laparoscope not only imposes less impact on physical stress system, but also makes recovery after operation more quickly.