Many types of lung surgeries are done at Roswell Park Cancer Institute. Some are limited procedures and used only to diagnose the cancer, while others are more extensive with the goal of removing the cancer and obtaining a cure. Your physician will discuss with you the best method to obtain a diagnosis, and remove cancer, if possible.

Types of Surgical Procedures

• Mediastinoscopy
• Mediastinotomy
• Thoracoscopy (one example is VATS – video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery)
• Thoracotomy

Levels of Lung Removal – The following terms describe the various amounts of tissue removed from the lung when the patient undergoes a thoracoscopy or thoracotomy.

• Wedge Resection – A small wedge of the lung containing the tumor is removed. This is usually done by a thoracoscopy. It is usually done in high-risk patients.
• Segmentectomy – Involves taking a larger section of the lung containing tumor as compared to the wedge resection, but only part of a lobe is removed. It is usually done in older, high-risk patients.
• Lobectomy – This involves removing the entire lobe of a lung, including the lymph nodes that drain the area. It is done either by video-assisted thoracoscopy (VATS) or thoracotomy. It is generally well tolerated. The intent is to cure the patient of the lung cancer.
• Minimally Invasive (Thoracoscopic) Lobectomy – Minimally invasive lobectomy is a technique growing in popularity to remove certain lung tumors. It has the advantage of limiting the amount of chest wall trauma caused by a standard chest incision thereby reducing the recovery time. It has been shown to be a safe procedure with similar cancer control outcomes as the traditional open operations.  It also facilitates recovery for patients in general but particularly for those who are somewhat frail from age or other comorbid conditions. Patients tend to be discharged without requiring home health or nursing  services. Our surgeons use these techniques preferentially (over 80% compared with a national average of 20%) and we feel that this is why we have a one of the shorter average hospital stays in the state. 
• Pneumonectomy – This involves removing the entire lung on one side by thoracotomy and is needed when there has been some spread to central lung structures or lymph nodes in the mediastinum. This is a large, involved operation and is done after careful testing. Adequate lung function, reserve, and heart function is essential, as removing one lung will affect overall breathing. Patients must be in good physical health with good lung function preoperatively.