title: Effect of bromhexine on the incidence of postoperative bronchopneumonia after upper abdominal surgery.
abstract: The incidence of postoperative bronchopneumonia in 70 patients undergoing upper abdominal surgery who received intramuscular and oral bromhexine after operation for 5 days was 25% (8 of 32), compared with 34% (13 of 38) in a control group, but this difference in favour of bromhexine does not reach statistical significance. All patients had postoperative physiotherapy. However, in a high-risk group (patients who smoked more than 10 cigarettes a day, who admitted to a productive cough before the operation and in whom the forced expiratory volume as a percentage of the forced vital capacity was less than 70) the incidence of postoperative bronchopneumonia in those who had bromhexine was 6 of 17 compared with 9 of 15 in the controls. Thus bromhexine for the prevention and treatment of postoperative bronchopneumonia in high-risk patients after upper abdominal surgery deserves further study.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001662:Biliary Tract Surgical Procedures; D001964:Bromhexine / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001991:Bronchitis / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy; D001996:Bronchopneumonia / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D005260:Female; D005541:Forced Expiratory Volume; D005743:Gastrectomy; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D026741:Physical Therapy Modalities; D011182:Postoperative Care; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D012907:Smoking / Q000150:complications; D014797:Vital Capacity
chemical_list: D001964:Bromhexine