Taking a Lung Break

In the fight against tuberculosis, doctors and medical researchers have tried a wide range of treatments over the years, some more effective than others. One of the more unusual treatments used in the mid-20th century was known as plombage. Can you imagine the pain?!

Plombage involved inserting small, weighted bags or balloons into the space between the lung and the chest wall in order to collapse the lung and create a space for the infected tissue to heal. It may sound like a bizarre and uncomfortable procedure, but it was actually seen as a major breakthrough at the time, and was widely used in the treatment of tuberculosis from the 1930s to the 1950s.