Pulmonary distress syndrome in urgent surgery: A concept, pathogenesis, and fundamentals of treatment
Authors: Vlasov A.P. , Trofimov V.A. , Vlasova T.I. , Myshkina N.A. , Muratova T.A. , Leshchankina N.Y. , Dukhovnova K.M. 
Published: February 2025

Objective. To study several non-respiratory lung functions in conjunction with the respiratory component in acute abdominal diseases with different natures of the inflammatory process; to identify the key mechanisms of organ damage; and, based on the data, establish a new syndrome in urgent surgery—pulmonary distress syndrome—and evaluate the effectiveness of Remaxol in its treatment. Material and methods. Chronic experiments have been done on dogs. Under anesthesia, progressive acute peritonitis was simulated in the first group (24) (the first subgroup (12) received infusion therapy, the second subgroup (12) received Remaxol (20 mL/kg)), in the second group (8) acute destructive pancreatitis, in the third group (8) acute obstructive ileus. The treatment outcomes of 78 patients with acute surgical pathology of the abdomen were analyzed: 38 patients with acute peritonitis caused by destructive appendicitis, hollow viscus perforation (the first subgroup (16) received standard of care, in the second (22) Remaxol was added to the standard of care); 18 with acute severe pancreatitis complicated by enzymatic peritonitis, 22 with acute intestinal obstruction. Surgeries were performed on all the patients. The extension and type of the surgeries depended on the condition. In the early postoperative period (up to 5 days), several indicators of respiratory lung function were evaluated in the experiment and patients, and non-respiratory function was assessed using several indicators of arterial and venous blood. In the experiment, the state of lipid metabolism and the hemostasis system was assessed in lung tissues. Results. It was established that in acute abdominal diseases, lung damage occurs regardless of the nature of the inflammatory process. It manifested not only with changes in the homeostasis indicators due to modifications of the respiratory component but also non-respiratory functions of the organ. It was shown that the signs of the non-respiratory dysfunction of the lungs, as indicated by the parameters of blood inflowing to the lungs and outflowing from the lungs, included a deterioration in their detoxification and lipid-modifying ability and changes in the blood coagulation system. The key and unifying feature of respiratory and non-respiratory lung damage in various types of inflammatory processes are disorders of the lipid metabolism of lung cells. In the pathogenesis of membrane destabilization, the peroxidation of membrane lipids and the high activity of phospholipases play a decisive role. In the pathological process, a certain role is assigned to the tissue (pulmonary) coagulation-lytic system. The inclusion of Remaxol in the treatment of acute peritonitis increased lung tolerance to trigger pathogenetic agents, as indicated by improved laboratory and clinical parameters. Conclusion. Experimental and clinical evidence was obtained for establishing the pathological condition (syndrome) in acute surgical abdominal diseases called pulmonary distress syndrome. Pulmonary distress syndrome in urgent surgery is a set of pathological processes of the body, with the most important manifestations being systemic homeostasis disorders due to lung damage as a result of alteration of membrane structures of cells resulting from hyperactivation of peroxidation and phospholipases and modifications of the tissue coagulation-lytic system, which is accompanied by deterioration of their respiratory (respiratory distress syndrome), detoxification, lipid-regulating, and hemostatic functions.