Lung injury after thoracotomy

Lung injury after thoracotomy.

Postoperative respiratory complications are the commonest problem after all types of thoracic surgery. The exact incidence depends on the type of surgery and the preoperative health and lung function of the patient, but rates of up to 50% are often quoted. 2 Most of these complications are diagnosed as either `pneumonia' or `postoperative atelectasis'. However, the role of microbiological patho...

Resuscitative thoracotomy following wartime injury.

BACKGROUND The evidence for resuscitative thoracotomy (RT) in trauma patients following wartime injury is limited; its indications and timings are less defined in battle injury. The aim of this study was to analyze survival as well as the causes and times of death in patients undergoing RT within the context of modern battlefield resuscitation. METHODS A retrospective cohort study was perform...

Pain control after thoracotomy.

Lung injury after cardiopulmonary bypass.

Pulmonary injury during cardiopulmonary bypass is common as patient factors (smoking, pain, pneumonia) and the effects of cardiopulmonary bypass combine to compromise lung function after cardiac surgery. Lung injury follows the propagation of an inflammatory response involving cytokines, complement, neutrophils, monocytes, activated endothelial cells and platelets. Neutrophils sequester in the ...

Deep vein thrombosis after thoracotomy.

In a prospective study of 183 patients undergoing lateral thoracotomy the 125 I fibrinogen uptake test and perioperative heparin prophylaxis for deep-vein thrombosis were investigated. There was an incidence of deep vein thrombosis in 51% in untreated control patients. The heparin prophylaxis effectively reduced the incidence of deep venous thrombosis to 28% (P less than 0.005) without increasi...