Abdominal surgeries alter the integrity of the peritoneal layer and cause imbalances among immunological, inflammatory and angiogenic mechanisms within the tissue. During laparoscopic procedures a protective function of the peritoneal layer can be disturbed by the gas used to create a pneumoperitoneum. The aim of this study was to characterize peritoneal tissue by means of differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) as a reference for future investigations on the influence of surgical procedures on the physicochemical state of the peritoneum. Thirty-seven patients participated in the study. Patients were divided into three groups according to the type of surgery: group H — patients who underwent hernia repair; group Ch — patients who underwent laparoscopic cholecystectomy; and group C — patients operated due to rectal cancer. It was observed that onset temperature (T_o), denaturation temperature (T_m) and change of enthalpy (ΔH) during thermal denaturation of peritoneal collagen in were significantly different for these three groups of patients. The mean values of onset temperature (T_o) and denaturation temperature (T_m) in group H were significantly lower, while DH in this group was significantly higher than in the two other groups (Ch and C). This preliminary study does not answer whether the differences in collagen denaturation found in peritoneal tissue from different groups of patients resulted from a different inherent state of the tissue, or from surgical procedures. However, the results suggest that DSC is an appropriate method to study subtle changes in the physicochemical condition of the peritoneum using small samples obtained during surgical procedures. (Folia Histochemica et Cytobiologica 2011; Vol. 49, No. 4, pp. 700–705)