[External respiration in patients with craniocerebral injury]

One hundred and twenty patients with a severe craniocerebral trauma were examined to study disorders of external respiration function (ERF) in this injury. The static and dynamic parameters of ERF were determined daily for the first week and on the 10th, 14th, 21st, and 28th days after the trauma. It was found that the underlying factors of ERF disorders in trauma of the brain were diminished volumes and capacities of the lungs, impaired bronchial patency with subsequent development of atelectasis of the lungs and the pulmonary shunt, which were determined by the severity and level of damage of the brain structures. The pharmacological test conducted in the posttraumatic period showed that bronchospasm persisting for a month developed twice more frequently in patients with a severe trauma than in those with a moderately severe injury.