BRONCHIECTASIS
TREATMENTS |
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Treatment should involve efforts to
resolve any underlying disorder. Infections will require antibiotics,
obstruction may require the removal of a foreign object or tumor.
Medications are available to help thin the sputum, so that it can be
more effectively coughed up. Rhythmic clapping on the chest and
back, while the patient assumes a number of positions (head down,
primarily), may help the lungs to drain more effectively. This is
called chest physical therapy, or percussion and postural drainage.
When a particular area of the lung is constantly and severely
infected, surgery may be needed to remove it. When bleeding occurs
from irritated bronchial tubes and overgrown bronchial blood vessels,
surgery may be required either to remove an area of the bronchial
tube, or to inject the bleeding blood vessel with a material to stop
the bleeding.
In some patients, bronchiectasis eventually leads to a constantly
low level of blood oxygen, despite other treatments. These patients
usually have an associated increase in the size of the right side of
their hearts, along with a decrease in the heart's ability to pump
blood through the lungs. Some patients with extremely severe
symptoms and disability have been treated with lung transplantation. |
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| BRONCHIECTASIS RELATED ITEMS |
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