Acute exacerbation of interstitial lung disease after radical surgery for lung cancer: a case report

A 69-year-old male patient underwent a left upper lobectomy for lung cancer, showing slight interstitial changes in the lung before surgery. He suffered fever with cough and expectoration postoperatively, and high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) of the thorax indicated that the interstitial lesion in the lung was aggravated. The course of the disease progressed rapidly, and treatment that included anti-infection and steroid pulse therapy was ineffective. We conducted a retrospective analysis of the clinical data and the process of diagnosis and treatment of this patient with acute exacerbation of interstitial lung disease (AE-ILD) after radical surgery for lung cancer. Patients with ILD should be given very careful consideration when selecting a therapeutic approach because interventions may aggravate AE-ILD, leading to a poor prognosis.