Abstract
During last the 7 years, six patients with spontaneous pneumothorax and empyema with or without lung abscess were admitted to our department. One patient with candida infection was treated without surgery. Four patients received surgical therapy after resolution of the infections. One patient who had drug-induced liver dysfunction underwent emergency surgery. Immediately after the operations, the patients' conditions improved markedly. We recommend surgical treatment of pneumothorax before infection develops. If pneumothorax is complicated by emphyema or lung abscess or both, surgery should be performed after the infection is controlled. When patients have drug-induced liver dysfunction, emergency surgery is needed because the usual doses of the antibiotics cannot be administered.
