AUTOGENOUS BACTERIAL ANTIGEN COMPLEXES USED SUCCESSFULLY IN CHRONIC LUNG DISEASE UNRESPONSIVE TO ANTIBIOTICS AND OTHER THERAPY. A CASE REPORT

[Automatic stapling devices in the surgery of the lung and the bronchial tree (author's transl)]

Until 1969 the bronchial stump was closed by hand with a suture of steel wire; the rate of empyemas reached 4.2%. After using the automatic stapler device TA 30 and TA 55 the postoperative empyema rate, including stump, insufficiencies, decreased to an average of 3%. Since 1972 the stapling devices had been used regularly in lung surgery. The rate of postoperative empyema and stump insufficiency in 378 patients operated 1974-1980 dropped to 1.6%. Technical and surgical failures were the cause for the disasters. For 4 years there has been no stump insufficiency.

Mechanical sutures in surgery

Following the original introduction of an automatic stapling instrument producing B-form staples by de Petz (1924, 1927), there has been derived from the very important first generation of Soviet stapling instruments a second generation of American stapling instruments characterized by: (1) the use of preloaded, pre-sterilized, and disposable staple cartridges; (2) the adaptability of one instrument to a variety of cartridges for use in a variety of tissues and operative situations; (3) the transfer from the instrument itself to the disposable cartridge of delicate and fragile moving parts simplifying the maintenance and operation of instruments. The instruments have found wide and satisfactory application in numerous areas of thoracic, vascular, gastro-intestinal, and gynaecological surgery.