[Emergency repeated operations for lung cancer]

A total of 43 patients with surgical complications developed after planned surgeries for cancer of the lung were followed up in the Thoracal Oncological Clinic, Cancer. Research Center, Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, in 1981-1990. Emergency repeated operations for complications were performed in 23 (53.4%) of them. Bronchial suture insufficiency after various pulmonary resections occurs in 2.4% of cases in 25 out of 1030 patients). Intrapleural hemorrhages after resection of the lung result from technical errors of a surgeon during mobilization of the lung or lymphadenectomy (in 10 out of 14) and they are infrequent during treatment of pulmonary or lobal blood vessels (in 4 out of 14). Impaired seal of lung parenchymal sutures, which needs active surgical policy, was seen in 2 out of 1030 patients with lung resection. Our clinical material shows that chylothorax as a complication of pulmonectomy is associated with a rare left-sided location of the thoracic lymph duct. In pulmonary cancer, active surgical policy has advantages over conservative therapy: the mortality was 8.0% (2 out of 25) and 25.9% (7 out of 27), respectively. Conservative therapy of patients with bronchial suture insufficiency is preferable after pulmonectomy. Emergency repeated operations in the early period are preferable in these complication after pulmonectomy.