The use of hyperbaric oxygenation in the combined treatment of postresection tuberculous pleural empyema with bronchial fistulae

: The results of treating 67 patients with postresection tuberculous empyema of the pleura and bronchial fistulas are presented. The complex treatment included courses of hyperbaric oxygenation. The treatment procedure is described. Closure of the bronchial fistula and decrease in the fistula diameter were observed in 23 (33.8 per cent) and 16 (24.5 per cent) patients, respectively. No closure of the bronchial fistula in 41.7 per cent of the patients was recorded. Increased erythropoiesis, decreased leukocytosis and higher leukocyte counts, retarded ESR, lower contents of transaminases, increased inhibition of leukocyte migration, lower levels of immunoglobulin E and fewer numbers of immune complexes circulating in blood were revealed.