Effect of bromhexine on the incidence of postoperative bronchopneumonia after upper abdominal surgery

The incidence of postoperative bronchopneumonia in 70 patients undergoing upper abdominal surgery who received intramuscular and oral bromhexine after operation for 5 days was 25% (8 of 32), compared with 34% (13 of 38) in a control group, but this difference in favour of bromhexine does not reach statistical significance. All patients had postoperative physiotherapy. However, in a high-risk group (patients who smoked more than 10 cigarettes a day, who admitted to a productive cough before the operation and in whom the forced expiratory volume as a percentage of the forced vital capacity was less than 70) the incidence of postoperative bronchopneumonia in those who had bromhexine was 6 of 17 compared with 9 of 15 in the controls. Thus bromhexine for the prevention and treatment of postoperative bronchopneumonia in high-risk patients after upper abdominal surgery deserves further study.