title: Surgery vs non-surgical treatment for bronchiectasis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Standard treatment for bronchiectasis comprises postural drainage and various regimes of antibiotic therapy. If the disease is confined to localised areas of lung, surgical resection of the affected segments is often performed.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To assess the benefit of surgical resection compared with standard ("conservative") treatment.
  
  
  METHODS
  The Cochrane Airways Group trials register derived from MEDLINE, EMBASE and hand searching of major journals was searched using the terms [bronchiect* AND surg* OR resection OR lobect* OR pneumonect* OR segementect*].
  
  
  METHODS
  Only randomised, controlled trials were considered
  
  
  METHODS
  The titles, abstracts and citations were independently reviewed by the two reviewers to assess potential relevance for full review. STATISTICAL CONSIDERATIONS Not applicable
  
  
  RESULTS
  No randomised or controlled clinical trials were found, other than case series or case-controlled studies.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Surgical treatment of bronchiectasis is widely used, but there appear to be no randomised controlled trials. It is not possible to provide an unbiased estimate of its benefit compared to conservative therapy.
authors.affiliation: Aintree Chest Centre, University Hospital, Aintree, Aintree Chest Centre, University Hospital Aintree, Lower Lane, Liverpool, Merseyside, UK, L9 7AL. j.corless@bigfoot.com
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Corless
authors.forename: C J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Warburton
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001987:Bronchiectasis / Q000601:surgery / Q000628:therapy*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D006801:Humans