Pneumologie
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Immediate postoperative extubation of patients submitted to chest surgery is possible in almost all cases. The intensive care unit responsible for these patients should have good facilities for bronchoscopy, and the indication for this procedure should be made, postoperatively, on a broad basis. The introduction of peri-operative antibiotic prophylaxis has led to a substantial decline in disturbances of wound healing. Due to the use of autologous blood transfusion, the need for homologous blood transfusions has been reduced significantly.
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Forty-one infants with acute viral bronchiolitis were hospitalized in our paediatric intensive care unit during the seven year period from 1980 to 1987. In 14 out of 27 evaluated patients, Respiratory Syncitial Virus (RSV) was detected in the nasal secretions. Twenty-three children required only supportive care and monitoring. ⋯ The average duration of mechanical ventilation was 40 hours. All the children recovered uneventfully. These data suggest that even the most severe cases of acute bronchiolotis can be treated successfully, and that the mortality rate of this disease entity can be reduced to zero.
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The effectivity of sympathectomy performed via thoracoscopy as initiated by Kux, has been confirmed by examining two cases reported here.