[The pulmonary distress syndrome during acute arterial occlusion of the lower extremities]

After surgery for acute arterial occlusion in the lower extremities 59 patients have developed tachypnea, respiratory alkalosis and arterial hypoxemia. These symptoms persisted over the whole postoperative period. In 66% of dead patients pulmonary changes have been observed and only in 34% of patients who died suddenly the lungs were unaffected. Morphological changes in the lungs are most marked in long-standing ischemia and have the signs of the "shock lung" (adult respiratory distress syndrome). Pronounced changes in the respiratory function, acid-base balance, blood gas composition can account for a more severe course of the disease, deteriorate the prognosis, predetermine multiorgan failure in the early postoperative period.