Abstract
Sepsis and multiple organ failure (MOF) are important causes of hospital mortality. Acute lung injury (ALI) is nonspecific acute inflammation resulting from severe biological response to overwhelming direct or indirect stress to the lung. It is associated most often with sepsis, aspiration, or multiple trauma. A systemic inflammatory response in the host appears to be a clinical step in ALI pathogenesis. Blood purification removes of a wide range of middle-molecular-weight substances and endotoxins and cytokines, and efficiently expels excessive water related to tissue edema. Its use may reduce systemic inflammatory response and eliminate excessive water within extravascular segments. Advances in surgical procedures and postoperative management have led to increasing selection of surgery in elderly patients or compromised hosts, increasing the incidence of sepsis without evidently infectious focus. We report three cases of ALI following postoperative sepsis successfully treated with blood purification.
