[Several aspects of septic shock in lung surgery]

It was established that septic shock is a rare (0.2%) but the severest (5 of 6 patients died) complication in pulmonary surgery and is a consequence of the spread of postoperative wound infection or pyo-inflammatory process in the lung for which the operation was performed. The staphylococcus and nonfermentative Gram-negative bacteria prevail among the causative agents of septicemia. The most typical clinical signs of septic shock are acute circulatory insufficiency with rapid development of insufficiency of the function of the brain, kidneys, liver, and intestinal paresis in a febrile patient with a severe postoperative wound infection or in one operated on for a disseminated pyo-inflammatory disease in the lung. Precise determination of the indications for operation, careful preoperative treatment of the pyo-inflammatory processes, immediate establishment of the diagnosis, and timely removal of the localized focus of infection are important in preventing septic shock.