So, why must lung diseases need lavage treatment? Because the lung is an organ open to the outside world. Various bacteria, microorganisms, harmful smoke from atmospheric pollution (including smoking) and harmful dust (including dust in the production environment of industrial and mining enterprises) can be inhaled directly, thus violating the lung tissue. Harmful substances produced by abnormal metabolism in the body can also be deposited in the lungs and are not easily discharged. These factors, if present for a long time, can lead to serious lung diseases. If you can clean out these harmful substances deposited in the lungs, it is possible to control or reduce the occurrence and development of lung diseases.
At present, Nanjing Chest Hospital has successfully performed more than 1,500 cases of "whole lung lavage" for patients. More than 10 hospitals across the country have come to receive training.
Lung lavage: what can be cured?
Occupational lung diseases: silicosis, coal worker's pneumoconiosis, cement pneumoconiosis, welding lung, casting pneumoconiosis and so on.
Severe or refractory bronchial-pulmonary suppurative infections: due to childhood measles, whooping cough, or due to bronchitis, acute pneumonia treatment irregular or incomplete, recurrent infections, clinical symptoms such as chronic coughing, coughing up yellow pus sputum and so on.
Alveolar protein deposition: this is a disease caused by abnormal protein-like material clogging the alveolar cavity of unknown etiology.
Refractory asthma: most patients with asthma attacks can terminate their attacks within a short period of time with appropriate treatment, but about 10% of patients who are ineffective in conventional treatment can be treated significantly if they undergo lung lavage, which can eliminate the poor airway drainage caused by mucus plugs.
Smokers: don't take this trick as health care
Lung cleaning in addition to the treatment of some difficult lung disease patients, the same is also suitable for years and years of severe "old smoker". However, it must be reminded that smokers who want to find "clean" through lung cleaning must make up their minds to quit smoking before they can do so. In the lung lavage center of Nanjing Chest Hospital, some smokers who want to rely on lung lavage to achieve the purpose of health care will be persuaded by the doctor to go back, because the purpose of the lung lavage is to cure the disease, not to boost the smoker's "morale".
Lung cleaning, as a new and highly specialized medical technology, is a means of treating disease, not health care. This kind of medical equipment, intraoperative first aid measures are required to be quite "high standard" of lavage, but also not the street clinic can be carried out. Simply for example, if the process of washing lungs, irrigation fluid water temperature "not up to standard" or post-operative care measures are not in place, these seemingly small details, are very likely to let the patient "wake up".
Large-volume whole-lung lavage, although applicable to a wide range of diseases, is not for everyone. When there are complications of huge alveoli, severe emphysema, pulmonary heart disease, active tuberculosis, recent history of hemoptysis, pneumothorax; or suffering from cardiovascular disease, blood disease, or accompanied by liver, kidney, brain and other organic diseases; or trachea and the main bronchial deformity, preventing the double-lumen bronchial intubation correctly in place of the person, are all part of the crowd of prudent to do. In addition, even if the patient can accept the adaptation of large-volume whole-lung lavage, before the operation, are required to go to the hospital for examination, the professional doctor to decide whether the patient can tolerate this operation.
The cost of the procedure is about 5,000 to 7,000 yuan, and the patient needs to be hospitalized for about 2 to 3 weeks.