Lung Surgery

Lung surgery removes part or all of a lung. The most common reason is early-stage lung cancer. Other reasons include cancer deposits from elsewhere, damaged areas from bronchiectasis or old infection, large air-filled bullae and recurrent collapsed lung.

For early non-small cell lung cancer, removing the affected lobe with its lymph nodes offers the best chance of cure. The limit is your breathing reserve: the surgeon can take only what your remaining lung can compensate for, and surgery does not help when cancer has spread beyond the chest.

What Lung Surgery involves

Work-up includes CT, PET-CT, a brain scan in many cases, a biopsy where possible, lung function tests with gas transfer, and often a heart assessment or exercise test. At operation you lie on your side under general anaesthesia with a special tube that lets one lung deflate. In keyhole surgery (VATS or robotic) the surgeon works through two to four small cuts between the ribs with a camera, divides the vein, artery and airway of the lobe with staplers, removes the lobe in a bag and samples the lymph nodes. Open surgery uses a longer cut that spreads the ribs. One or two chest drains are left until air leak and fluid settle.

Who is a good candidate for Lung Surgery?

A thoracic surgeon, chest physician and oncologist decide together, based on stage and your lung function.

• Stage 1 or 2 non-small cell lung cancer in someone with adequate lung function
• Selected stage 3 cancers after chemotherapy and immunotherapy
• A limited number of lung deposits from bowel, kidney or sarcoma cancers that are otherwise controlled
• Localised bronchiectasis with repeated infection or bleeding
• Recurrent pneumothorax or giant bullae
• A suspicious nodule that cannot be diagnosed by needle

It is usually not the right choice if:

• Cancer that has spread to distant organs
• Most small cell lung cancer, which is treated with chemotherapy and radiotherapy
• Predicted breathing capacity after surgery that would be too low for daily life
• People who continue to smoke, at least until they stop, as complications are clearly higher
• People for whom focused radiotherapy (SABR) is a safer equivalent because of frailty

الخيارات التقنية

• VATS or robotic lobectomy: Keyhole removal of a lobe; now the usual approach for early cancer, with less pain and a shorter stay.
• Segmentectomy or wedge resection: Removes less tissue for small peripheral tumours or limited lung reserve.
• Open thoracotomy: For large or central tumours and when vessels or the airway need reconstruction.
• Pneumonectomy: Removal of a whole lung. Avoided where a sleeve resection can save lung.
• Pleurodesis and bullectomy: For recurrent collapsed lung.

ماذا يحدث خلال علاجك

The operation lasts 2 to 4 hours under general anaesthesia. Pain relief uses nerve blocks or an epidural plus tablets. You wake with a chest drain connected to a bottle or digital device and usually spend the first night in a high dependency area. Physiotherapists get you breathing deeply, coughing and walking from the first day.

الإعداد لرحلتك

Plan for 2 to 3 weeks in Istanbul. Your surgeon reviews photographs and your medical history before you book, and you meet in person the day before surgery for examination, marking and consent with a professional interpreter.

• Stop smoking and nicotine at least four weeks before and after surgery; it is the single biggest avoidable cause of wound problems
• Tell the team about every medicine and supplement you take; blood thinners, some herbal products and hormone treatment may need to be paused on your doctor's advice
• Arrange for someone to travel with you or to be reachable, and keep the first days at home free of work and lifting
• Book a changeable return flight; your surgeon confirms when you are fit to fly

التعافي والنتائج

Hospital stay is typically 3 to 5 days after keyhole surgery and 5 to 8 days after open surgery, decided mainly by when the drain can come out. Breathlessness on effort improves over 6 to 12 weeks as the remaining lung adapts. Chest wall numbness or pain around the scars may last months. Most people return to light work after 4 to 6 weeks. Additional chemotherapy or immunotherapy may be advised once pathology is final.

• Back to everyday activity: 4 to 8 weeks
• When results show: Pathology in 7 to 10 days
• How long they last: Depends on stage; follow-up scans for at least 5 years

سياسة السلامة والمخاطر والتنقيح

Risks depend heavily on your lung and heart health and on how much lung is removed.

• Prolonged air leak needing the drain for more than 5 days
• Chest infection or pneumonia
• Irregular heartbeat (atrial fibrillation) in the first days
• Bleeding that needs a return to theatre
• Long-term pain along the rib space
• Blood clots in the legs or lungs
• Breakdown of the airway stump, which is rare but serious
• A risk of death of about 1 to 3 per cent for lobectomy, higher for pneumonectomy

Every written proposal arranged through Clinic-Y states what the clinic covers if a correction is needed. Ask for it before you book, not after.

Cost of Lung Surgery in Türkiye

Clinic-Y does not publish a single price for Lung Surgery, because the honest figure depends on your case. What moves it:

• Extent of resection: wedge, segment, lobe or whole lung
• VATS, robotic or open approach
• Staging tests such as PET-CT, EBUS and brain MRI
• Intensive care and ward days
• Pathology including molecular tests

Send your photographs or reports and you receive written, all-inclusive proposals from suitable teams, side by side. Reviewing your case is free.

الأسئلة المتكررة