[The use of low-frequency ultrasound in surgical practice in thoracic surgery]

To gain better insight into the intimate mechanisms of action of low-frequency ultrasound in surgical practice, and to establish the indications for its practical implementation in concrete cases, the preliminary results in patients operated in the clinic of thoracic surgery of the State Institute Hospital of Pulmonary Diseases "St. Sofia"--Higher Medical Institute, Sofia, are reported. For the purpose the Russian ultrasound apparatus URSK-7N-18 is successfully employed. Following a concise technical characterization of the URSK-7N-18 parameters of action, clinical cases are described where ultrasound treatment with the apparatus is successfully used for the purpose of prophylaxis against pulmonary carcinoma recurrences, and serious purulent complications (mediastinitis, pleural empyema, subphrenic abscess). The method of intraoperative ultrasound treatment with the apparatus does not imply special qualification of the surgeon. The only requirement is to secure gradual filling of the respective cavity with normal serum, simultaneously with the ultrasound treatment, effected from the cavity bottom to its borders over a 10-minute period.