[Postoperative complications in lung resections for carcinoma (author's transl)]

There will be analyzed the postoperative results in 1351 resected patients with bronchial carcinoma from 1957 to 1975 with special reference to the problem of postoperative complications.1. The rates of complications and lethality have been dropped remarkably during the last years. The frequency of complications is now 11.9% and the lethality 4.1%. The mean value of all patients: 19.2% complications; 6.2% lethality. 2. On the top of all complications there are the empyemas, embolisms, haemorrhages-also those of the gastrointestinal tract-and the insufficiency of the cardiorespiratory system, which has a lethality of about 50%. 3. Age, lung-function and the extent of the resection are influencing the complication rate. 4. Excluding wound healing disturbances central tumors show twice as much complications (20%) as peripheral tumors (10%). But wound healing disturbances have the highest rate in intermediate tumors (9.9%), in contrast to the central tumors (3.9%) and peripheral neoplasms (6.2%). 5. The postoperative lethality has a direct and remarkable effect on to the 5 year-healing results. 6. In view of the therapy of the empyemas the plastic surgical methods should be reduced in favour to new standards of conservative therapy, which have to be worked out.