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Post-Op Day 1 Fever Is Never Atelectasis, Elizabeth Boudiab, Paras Khandhar
Post-Op Day 1 Fever Is Never Atelectasis, Elizabeth Boudiab, Paras Khandhar
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Postop day 1 fever is never atelectasis. It has been blamed for decades while even the latest editions of surgical textbooks disseminate this myth1. Whilst both fever and atelectasis are extraordinarily common after surgery – occurring in up to 40% and 90% of patients, respectively2 this is NOT the cause on Day 1. It is time that we exonerate this myth.
Postop day 1 fever is never atelectasis, it is due to inflammation and trauma of surgery. The concept that atelectasis was causing fever was derived principally from a study showing that alveolar macrophages sampled from an atelectatic rat lung …