Lung cancer can be treated by various therapies that are often used in combination to provide optimal outcomes for patients. Surgical resection is the surgical process in which the tumor, and is usually recommended if the cancer has not metastasized (or spread) outside the lungs to other parts of the body.
There are several options for doing that may involve resection of minimally invasive surgery or full operation. The technique used will depend on many factors, especially the size and stage of cancer and tumors are accessible to a surgeon.
Thoracotomy performed by a surgeon makes an incision through the chest wall and the average sternotomy performed by entering the chest cavity through the sternum. The second method is usually used in surgery for lung cancer, but they simply involve the discomfort and prolonged patient stay in hospital with a recovery period longer.
Alternative operating procedures including anterior limited Thoracotomy (ALT) which involves a small incision to allow entry, again through the front of the chest. It should be emphasized that the incision is much smaller than the standard or average Thoracotomy sternotomy. An alternative is the anterior axillary Thoracotomy (AAT) which involves a small incision in the chest near the armpit, but eventually, there was postero-lateral Thoracotomy (PLT) which involves the incision of the patient’s back or side of the trunk.
Even with this improved surgical techniques, a patient will experience pain big enough if the operation involves opening the chest (sometimes called the doctor as “cracking the chest”).
As a consequence of prolonged recovery and the patient discomfort, surgical techniques have been developed that do not involve large-scale operation – it is called, minimal-invasive technique.
Video-assisted thoracoscopy (VAT) using a high powered video cameras and hi-definition screen in combination with the diagnostic scans, such as CT or PET scans, to target tumors in the lungs of patients. Incision is required is much smaller and do not need to open the chest cavity resulting in much less discomfort for patients and greatly reduced recovery period. Using the video display, the surgeon can resect the tumor that had been identified during the diagnosis stage and phase.
Some doctors do caution, however the use of VAT, as the traditional Thoracotomy can reveal tumors and other metastatic cancers that have not been found in the scans and initial diagnosis. If this still has not found the cancer can return and the patient will become sick again and for this reason, VAT is usually recommended for early stage (I & II) and cancer has not spread to other parts of the lungs and body.
This is very normal for any surgical procedure must be accompanied by a phase of chemotherapy or radiation treatments to ensure that cancer patients have been completely removed or killed. How the treatment and at what stage a particular therapy will be recommended will be determined by the type and stage of lung cancer patients have.
Tags: Cancer, lung cancer, Surgery Options, Thoracotomy
