Pulmonary operations in emphysematous patients.

Although emphysema itself is a disease of the entire lungs and so is not amenable to surgical therapy, there are many conditions in emphysematous patients in which surgical operation can be quite helpful-for example, some complications of emphysema and some conditions not etiologically related to emphysema but affecting the lungs. Among these conditions are infectious diseases (pneumonia, bronchiectasis, tuberculosis and infected bullae) and other conditions such as spontaneous pneumothorax, the presence of space-occupying bullae and carcinoma. The surgical treatment required may range from suction or drainage to wide resection.