Lung Abscess (Surgical Aspects)

¹ Assistant Clinical Professor of Surgery, Stanford University School of Medicine, San Francisco, California.

1) The surgical aspects of acute and chronic pulmonary abscess have been discussed.

2) It has been emphasized that pulmonary abscess is a serious and unpredictable disease with ever-present surgical potentialities. It follows that early and frequent consultations between the physician and his thoracic surgical consultant are of the utmost importance.

3) It has been stressed that the arbitrary division of treatment of pulmonary abscess into medical and surgical aspects based on the length of illness is hazardous and has been largely responsible for the appalling mortality rates of past years.

4) The important role of bronchoscopy in improving "internal drainage" has been described.

5) The general indications for surgical drainage in pulmonary abscess have been given.

6) The pathological changes accompanying chronic pulmonary abscess have been briefly presented.

7) The indications for pulmonary resection (segmental lobectomy, total lobectomy, total pneumonectomy) in the treatment of both drained and undrained chronic pulmonary abscesses have been discussed.

8) Case histories have been presented which emphasize the salient facts.