The surgical importance of atelectasis is obvious; it may complicate convalescence from any operation and it is the most commonly encountered pulmonary complication after abdominal operations. Interest in atelectasis is not new. Knowledge of postoperative atelectasis, however, has been acquired in comparatively recent years. SOME NOTEWORTHY CONTRIBUTIONS As long ago as 1850 Gairdner1presented the belief that atelectasis could be produced by obstructing a major bronchus with thick, viscid mucus. William Pasteur2in 1910 recognized and described the clinical features of this condition. Lee and Tucker3in 1925 were first to demonstrate by bronchoscopy the mechanism of postoperative atelectasis. The cause of atelectasis in his case was found to be complete obstruction of the bronchi of the atelectatic lung with thick, tenacious secretion. Lemon4in 1926, working with dogs, showed that secretion in the mouth was readily aspirated into the tracheobronchial tree in the course of
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Schmidt et al. (1942) studied this question.