PROPHYLACTIC ANTIBIOTICS IN THORACIC-SURG ERY, AIRWAY ENDOSCOPY, THORACIC TRAUMA AND LUNG TRANSPLANTATIONS

Effectiveness of prophylactic antibiotics is at present time well docu mented for many surgical procedures. In lung surgery, numerous randomi zed double-blinded studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of 1st or 2nd generation cephalosporins, administered over a short period of time, not exceeding 24 h. In the opposite, thoracic injuries do not se em to require prophylactic antibiotics, except penetrating injuries of the chest, which could benefit from a single antibiotic injection. In case of lung transplantation, infectious complications result from ma ny factors, among which immunosuppression plays an important role. A p rolonged antibiotherapy is routinely used by many transplantation team s, despite the lack of studies proving the effectiveness of this pract ice.