HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Personal Folders Download to citation manager Permission Requests Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Wansbrough-Jones, M. H. Articles by Pepper, J. R. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Wansbrough-Jones, M. H. Articles by Pepper, J. R.

European Journal of Cardio-Thoracic Surgery, Vol 5, 433-434, Copyright © 1991 by European Association for Cardio-thoracic Surgery

ARTICLES

Bronchoalveolar lavage in the prediction of post-thoracotomy chest infection

MH Wansbrough-Jones, A Nelson, L New, A Wilson, N Wright and JR Pepper
Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery and Communicable Diseases, St. George's Hospital and Medical School, London, UK.

A prospective study was carried out on 75 patients undergoing pulmonary surgery to determine the relationship between perioperative lung flora and postoperative infections. Seventy-five patients having pleurectomy or pneumonectomy received cefuroxime prophylaxis; 1.5 g i.v. at induction followed by 6 further doses of 0.75 g i.v. over 48 h. Bronchoalveolar lavage samples were taken perioperatively via bronchoscopy in pleurectomy patients and from excised lung in patients undergoing lung resection. Patients were monitored for development of chest infection during the first 10 days after operation. Bacterial pathogens were cultured from 12 out of 54 lavage samples. The most common pathogen was Haemophilus influenzae and all the organisms were sensitive to cefuroxime. Eight patients (10.7%) developed postoperative chest infection. The likelihood of developing postoperative chest infection was 42% (5 out of 12 patients) in those patients whose lavage culture was positive for bacterial pathogens compared to 4.8% (2 out of 42 patients) for those whose culture was negative (chi 2 test, p less than 0.001). These results suggest that the culturing of bacterial pathogens from lavage samples from resected lung is a significant predictor of postoperative chest infection in patients undergoing pulmonary resection.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				O. Schussler, M. Alifano, H. Dermine, S. Strano, A. Casetta, S. Sepulveda, A. Chafik, S. Coignard, A. Rabbat, and J.-F. Regnard Postoperative Pneumonia after Major Lung Resection Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med., May 15, 2006; 173(10): 1161 - 1169. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. Sok, A.Z. Dragas, J. Erzen, and J. Jerman Sources of pathogens causing pleuropulmonary infections after lung cancer resection Eur. J. Cardiothorac. Surg., July 1, 2002; 22(1): 23 - 29. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				P. Bonde, I. Papachristos, A. McCraith, B. Kelly, C. Wilson, J. A. McGuigan, and K. McManus Sputum retention after lung operation: prospective, randomized trial shows superiority of prophylactic minitracheostomy in high-risk patients Ann. Thorac. Surg., July 1, 2002; 74(1): 196 - 203. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]