TREATMENT OF ACUTE PULMONARY ABSCESS

Abstract

This discussion will have to do with single (including multilocular) abscesses and does not include those due to tuberculosis, bronchiectasis and new growths. The subject has been frequently discussed in medical literature, but in my opinion the difference in treatment to be directed to the acute in contradistinction to the chronic process has not been sufficiently stressed. The importance of postural drainage in the treatment of the acute condition has received little more than casual mention. Although the treatment of acute lung abscess is relatively simple, it is apparently unfamiliar to the very class of physicians who should be able to apply it early and to carry it to a successful conclusion in more than 50 per cent of the cases; i. e., the general practitioner. Many patients with chronic pulmonary abscess who are seen have never received any treatment during the acute stage other than rest in bed, cough