[Bronchitis after pneumonectomy in patients with lung cancer].

Postoperative bronchitis developed in 99 (8.3%) of 1,189 patients who underwent pneumonectomy for lung carcinoma. The sequelae of postoperative bronchitis were the cause of death in more than one third of patients who died from pneumonectomy. The high incidence of bronchopleural complications in this group of patients is emphasized. Data are presented which provide evidence that the functions of external respiration and blood circulation are disturbed in patients with postoperative bronchitis. A complex of measures for the prevention and treatment of this complication are suggested, which made it possible to reduce the frequency and mortality rate of postoperative bronchitis in the last years.