Pneumothorax and posture

Abstract

The sudden entrance of air into the normal healthy pleura often gives rise to a train of grave symptoms. These symptoms have been studied experimentally in dogs. Most of the animals died from the pneumothorax when a large opening was made. Gluck lost all of the dogs he used; Biondi lost 4 of 5; Block, Marcus, Schmidt, Pourrat and Rodet, Tuffier, Murphy, Quenu and Longet, had similar experiences.In some recent experimental investigations of open pneumothorax I obtained similar results. Many of the dogs either died suddenly as soon as an opening into the pleura was made, or a violent expiratory dyspnea ensued, soon followed by rupture of the mediastinal septum, double pneumothorax, and death. The method of operating on the dogs was the following: The animal was given a hypodermic injection of morphin, and a few hours later was anesthetized with ether; tracheotomy was performed, a cannula inserted, and the administration of ether continued through the cannula. One or more ribs were resected, the intercostal ...