Abstract
The following is the results of observation on the ions' variation in serum and urine consequent to surgical operation for pulmonary tuberculosis. 1) Both Na and Cl in serum and urine began to decrease on the 2nd day after operation, and tended to recover on the 7th day. This seems due to the decrease in the whole amount of electrolytes due to impossibility of taking food immediately after operation, as well as to the fact that Na and Cl are originally stored in muscles and other tissues injured by operation.
2) Amount of K in serum did not undergo any practical change, however, that of in urine began to increase after operation, and returned to its former value on the 7th day. This seems due to the temporary starvation immediately after operation, because this variation is similar to that of K due to dystrophy. Since a remarkable shrinking of adrenal will be observed in case of dystrophy, those variation of K seems to definitely suggest the temporary adrenal dysfunction of K seems to definitely suggest the temporary adrenal dysfunction.
3) Ca in serum increased generally after operation, and recovered on the 7th day. This is similar to dystrophy. One of the causes for this may be the dysfunction of tissue to settle Ca into itself, due to the dysfunction of autonomic nervous system.
4) Between the cases whose breathing capacity decreased remarkably after operation and the cases in which the same decrease was not so remarkable, no difference in the variation of electrolytes was noticed.
5) Influences on the variation of electrolytes were hardly effected by the decline in the pulmonary breathing capacity, but they are effected by bleeding, loss of tissue fluid, operative invasion, quality of diet, and perhaps by the effects upon the adrenal function mentioned in the above.
