Lung Surgery is a variety of procedures which are used to diagnose or treat diseases connected to the lungs. One such procedure is a biopsy when a small amount of tissue is extracted from the lung for diagnosis. Another kind is resections when a portion of the lung is removed, whilst there are other forms of lung surgery which aim to reduce the volume of a person's lungs, remove any cancerous tumors that have appeared or just to improve the functions of a person's lungs.
Any lung surgery carried out will depend on what the underlying disease or condition is as well as other factors.
We will now look at the kinds of lung surgery that can be performed.
1. Pneumonectomy. This is usually performed in order to remove a lung or sometimes just one or more lobes (sections of the lung containing lung tissue, air sacs, ducts and the respiratory bronchiole). This is most commonly used when certain forms and stages of lung cancer have been diagnosed.
2. Thoracotomy. An incision is made in to the chest wall by the surgeon and this type of surgery is used to provide another way of diagnosing what the problem is with a person's lungs if other procedures have failed to provide adequate information.
3. Lobectomy. This type of lung surgery is when a surgeon removes a lobe of a person's lung. It is commonly used for those suffering from lung cancer, and it may also be used of people suffering from Cystic Fibrosis for whom all other forms of treatment have failed.
4. Segmental Resection or Wedge Section. A segmental resection is often performed in order to remove part of the lung (especially if they wish to remove a tumor). Whilst a wedge resection is as its name suggests an operation performed in order to remove a wedge shaped portion of the lung tissue.
5. Volume Reduction Surgery. This is a much newer kind of lung surgery and helps to relieve shortness of breath as well increasing a persons tolerance for exercise. This kind of operation is especially good for those people suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases such as emphysema.
There are many other surgeries being performed and these are continuously being improved in order to say make biopsy's less invasive and thus making surgery more effective. Such ones are video assisted lobectomy.
There are some risks involved not just with lung surgery but any major surgery involving general anesthesia and this may include a reaction to the anesthetics or medication, bleeding, infection and problems restoring breath. Lung surgery also has the added risk of a patient getting pneumonia or blood clots.
The outcome of any lung surgery performed will depend on many factors and the severity of the person's disease. However, in general the benefits from such surgery is good. People who have had a Thoracotomy have been provided with a definitive diagnosis in 90% of all cases, whilst volume reduction surgery has been shown to relieve some of the symptoms as well as improving the quality of life for some patients who suffer from severe emphysema.
In fact the mortality rate for those who have lung surgery improves as the procedures move from the more complete pneumonectomy to just lobectomy and where segmental resection is concerned it has the lowest rates of all.
Author Resource:-
Lee Dobbins writes for http://surgery.health-g8way.com where you can find out more basic information on different types of surgery as well as what to expect from lung surgery.
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