In speaking before a society of this sort, I feel that it is unnecessary to go into any detail on those points in the operative treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis which are well established, and must be familiar to all. The standard posterior thoracoplasty, as adopted by Sauerbruch, Bull and others, is recognized nowadays as being a classical operation, applicable to the majority of cases. I shall, therefore, with regard to such general considerations as the selection of cases, the operative technic, anesthesia and after-care, confine my remarks to a few paragraphs embodying my own views, and shall then proceed to discuss certain particular types of operation, and conclude with a survey of my own results.
Beginning, then, with that matter of prime importance, the selection of cases, it is perhaps hardly necessary to say that close collaboration with the expert in tuberculosis is essential. This point need not be labored.