With the advent of antituberculous chemotherapy and antibiotics, marked changes have been permitted in the surgical attack on tuberculosis. Whereas previously surgery had been limited to collapse procedures, now the residual tuberculous lesions are much more frequently excised. This progressive change in surgical methods is indeed a reflection of changing concepts.
It is the purpose of this paper to present our experience in the surgical treatment of tuberculosis over a five-year period. In particular, we wish to show the changing trends in the surgical approach, to outline the methods we use in evaluating patients, and to present our results in terms of morbidity and mortality.
Material
The data in this report were compiled from the analysis of 1,041 consecutive surgical procedures performed for tuberculosis during the five-year period, commencing Jan. 1, 1954, at the Veterans Administration Hospital, Hines, Ill., and the Chicago State Tuberculosis Sanitarium, Chicago. In general, the