Lobectomy: An Important Step in Lung Surgery

Lobectomy is an important procedure of lung surgery and can provide treatment for many lung diseases. In this article, we will answer questions such as what lobectomy is, how it is performed and in what cases it is necessary.

What is Lobectomy?

Lobectomy is the surgical removal of part of the lung (lobe). This procedure is used to treat lung cancer, lung infections, or other serious lung diseases.

Lobectomy Types:

Lobectomy is generally performed in three types: upper lobectomy, lower lobectomy, and middle lobectomy. Each is used for different conditions and diseases.

How is a lobectomy performed?

Lobectomy is performed by open surgery in the classical method. The vessels and bronchi leading to one lobe are tied and cut, and the adhesions of the lobe with the other lobe are separated. The completely released lobe is removed from the surgery area. Nowadays, it is possible to perform lobectomy surgery as closed (minimally invasive) methods such as video-assisted thoracoscopic (VATS) and robotic surgery.

Who Needs Lobectomy?

Lobectomy is performed in diseases where the disease is limited to one lobe and can be treated by removing that lobe. Conditions such as lung cancer, bronchiectasis and tuberculosis may require lobectomy.

Recovery Process After Lobectomy:

After lobectomy, patients experience some decrease in respiratory functions and surgical pain due to the removal of a lung lobe. Since there is less pain, especially in closed surgeries such as robotic surgery and VATS, patients' respiratory physiology improves faster and recovery occurs faster. In addition, in closed surgeries such as robotic surgery and VATS, there is less blood loss and fewer infections since there are no large skin and subcutaneous incisions, muscle cutting, and rib cutting. In this case, it reduces the risk of undesirable situations (complications) in patients.

Success Stories:

For example, we prevented the bleeding of our patient, who had blood in his sputum due to lung cancer, after lobectomy and reduced the risk of sudden death, and also gave him the chance to recover from cancer. 

Lobectomy is an important surgical procedure for lung health. If necessary, you should discuss the risks and benefits of this procedure in detail with your doctor.