Plombage in the 1980s

Abstract

The number of people still alive with plombage is small, although there are probably more than this review suggests. The occurrence of complications of plombage today is therefore rare. If, however, a patient who has had a plombage does develop a chest problem, the plombe does develop a chest problem, the plombe should always be considered implicated until proved otherwise. If it is shown to be infected, then resolution may not be possible without its removal. Should this be necessary, surgery should be carried out electively, after careful preparation of the patient, whenever possible. This paper is presented to alert clinicians to the potential difficulties in diagnosis and management of patients with complications of plombage, to endeavour to give some guidance on how such clinical problems may be safely and satisfactorily resolved, to refresh memoires about the plombage procedure, and to review some of the radiological appearances of plombage 30 years on.