Abstract: OBJECTIVE To observe the effect of compound ipratropium bromide inhalation on prevention of postoperative pulmonary infections in patients undergoing thoracotomy.METHODS A total of 1022 patients who received thoracotomy in the hospital from Jan 2011 to Dec 2016 were enrolled in the study and divided into the experimental group and the control group, with 511 cases in each group, both groups were given conventional nursing, the control group was treated with conventional aerosol inhalation, while the experimental group was given compound ipratropium bromide inhalation. The PaO₂, PaCO₂ and PO₂/FiO₂ levels as well as vital capacity, maximum voluntary ventilation of the patients were detected, the incidence of pulmonary infections was statistically analyzed, and the time of treatment and total effective rate of treatment were compared between the two groups of patients with pulmonary infections.RESULTS The infection rate was 5.08% (26 cases of pulmonary infection) in the experimental group after the treatment, 10.18% (52 cases of pulmonary infection) in the control group ( P<0.05). Totally 103 strains of pathogens were isolated from the 78 patients with pulmonary infections, among which the gram-negative bacteria were dominant. The PaO₂ level of the two groups of patients was higher after the treatment than before the treatment, while the PaCO₂ level of the two groups of patients was lower after the treatment than before the treatment, and there were significant differences (P<0.05); the mean level of PO₂/FiO₂ of the control group was lower than that of the experimental group after the treatment (P<0.05). The incidence rates of pulmonary edema and pulmonary atelectasis were higher in the control group than in the experimental group (P<0.05).The mean treatment time of the control group was longer than that of the experimental group (P<0.05). TheHT5"SS total effective rate of treatment of the control group was lower than that of the experimental group (P<0.05).CONCLUSION The compound ipratropium bromide inhalation may reduce the incidence of postoperative pulmonary infections in the thoracotomy patients, facilitate the timely control of the pulmonary infections, achieve favorable curative effect and benefit postoperative nursing.