[Characteristics of the development of respiratory insufficiency in the early postoperative period following surgery of cancer of the esophagus and the cardia].

Acute respiratory failure (ARF) in the earliest postoperative period after radical surgery for esophageal cancer is characterized by staged development. Its severity is determined by the degree of ventilation-perfusion disorders and the accompanying diffusion disturbances. The following factors are considered to be ARF-provoking: postaggressive circulation centralization, predominant administration of crystalloid plasma substitutes, persistence of hypoproteinemia in the earliest postoperative period, as well as extended lymph dissection involving cardiopulmonary plexus located in the area of bifurcation. The latter factor is the peculiarity of surgery caused by oncological considerations, while three former factors should be taken into account during management of patients in the intra- and postoperative periods.