الفهرس 
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EtiologyOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
In the contemporary world, lung abscess has become a rare condition.
In the first half of the 20th century, the largest share of lung abscess occurred as primary abscess due to aspiration of infectious content in otherwise healthy patients, whereas in modern times, mainly immunocompromised and elderly patients with heavy comorbidity are affected.
The infrequency as well as the changing pattern of disease makes the management of lung abscess a challenging task.
Both chest physicians and thoracic surgeons are involved in the treatment of pulmonary abscess formation.
While it is generally accepted that the initial management consists of medical and interventional treatment, the role of surgery is currently not well established.
The identification of predictors of outcome could help to clarify timing and indications for surgery in patients with lung abscess.
As most published data are at least some decades old, there is a need for new research projects.
Therefore, aim of our study was to analyze the predictors of outcome in surgery for lung abscess in a contemporary study population.
In a comparative analysis, we reviewed all cases of anatomical lung resection for lung abscess of infectious origin and cases managed with intercostal tube insertion as well.
As we feel that cancer requires different treatment strategies than infectious disease, malignant disorders including abscess formation due to necrotic lung carcinoma were strictly kept out.
The study period was limited between September 2016 and December 2017 to ensure a contemporary study population. A local ethics committee approved the study, and the need for written consent was considered in almost all cases.
The study has been conducted on 30 patients in two thirds of which intercostal tube has been used a surgical options and the other third underwent anatomical lung resection surgeries.
Delayed referral for surgery was common in our study. Patients were only referred for surgery when all nonoperative means had failed. We acknowledge that nowadays, the initial management of lung abscess is nonoperative, including all kinds of interventional and endoscopic procedures.
Surgery for lung abscess is a challenging task. Timing and indications for surgery are not well established. Identification of predictors of outcome could help to clarify the role of surgery.