[Atelectasis after segmental resection of the lungs in patients with tuberculosis]

Study of 219 tuberculosis patients who underwent segmental resections showed that the rate of atelectasis development constituted 16.4%. In the right-sided operations atelectases developed 3 times more frequently than those in the left-sided ones (27.5 and 7.5%, respectively) and were mainly segmental (atelectasis of the anterior segment after excision of the ++apico-posterior segment), while in the left-sided intervention they were total in the majority of patients. The character of atelectasis in the right- and left-sided operations was determined by specific features of bronchial structure of the right and left lungs. As a result of therapeutic measures all total atelectases were relieved within 3-5 days, while segmental atelectases persisted for a long time; in 6 patients they still remained by the time of discharge.