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Prevention by ambroxol of bronchopulmonary complications after upper abdominal surgery: Double-blind italian multicenter clinical study versus placebo

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Abstract

A double-blind multicenter study was carried out to evaluate the effectiveness of ambroxol, a drug able to promote surfactant synthesis, in the prevention of postoperative bronchopulmonary complications. A total of 252 patients with chronic obstructive lung disease (COLD) undergoing upper abdominal surgery were randomly allocated to receive either 1 g/day of ambroxol intravenously for 6 consecutive days in the perioperative period or placebo. Pulmonary complications were evaluated by clinical studies, radiographic, and blood gas analysis. There was a significant difference in atelectasis between the 2 groups (10.6% ambroxol vs 23.9% placebo). In addition, analysis of variance showed that the PaO2 values of the ambroxoltreated group after surgery decreased less than those of the placebo-treated group (p<0.05) from the preoperative values. The treatment was well tolerated, although nausea was significantly more frequent in the ambroxoltreated group.

We think that ambroxol should be considered as an alternative and new pharmacologic approach for the prevention of postoperative pulmonary complications.

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  1. Medical Department, Istituto De Angeli SpA Milano, Boehringer Ingelheim Italia, Via Serio, 15, 20139, Milano, Italy

    Maria Giulia Marini

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  1. Maria Giulia Marini
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G. Fegiz and collaborators

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Cattedra di Clinica Chirurgica, Università La Sapienza, Roma, Italy

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G. Fegiz and collaborators., Marini, M.G. Prevention by ambroxol of bronchopulmonary complications after upper abdominal surgery: Double-blind italian multicenter clinical study versus placebo. Lung 169, 69–76 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02714144

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