Lobectomy for Lung Cancer

Overview
Lobectomy surgery, or removing a lobe from a lung, is a treatment for advanced non-small cell lung cancer. The left lung has two lobes and the right has three.

What does it involve?
The procedure is performed under general anesthesia. Your surgeon will make an incision near the lobe to be removed. An incision can be small (minimally invasive) or larger. The lobe, plus any nearby lymph nodes which are susceptible to invasion by cancer, will be removed from the body through the incision.

Lobectomy is an inpatient procedure. You will typically spend two to four days in the hospital after the surgery for monitoring. It can take many months to recover fully.

Side effects
Risks from lobectomy surgery include lung collapse, an opening forming between the airway and space between the lung and the chest wall (bronchopleural fistula), fluid collecting between the lung and chest wall (pleural effusion), infection, bleeding, and, rarely, death.

For more details about this treatment, visit:

Lobectomy — American Lung Association
https://www.lung.org/lung-health-diseases/lung-...

Lobectomy — Johns Hopkins Medicine
https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/treatmen...