BOSTON – When performing pneumonectomy on patients with benign disease, it is important to be aware of specific preexisting conditions that could complicate surgery before bringing patients into the operating room.
“Sometimes the usual, standard operative procedure is not appropriate, given the circumstances of a particular patient, [and] typically, these pneumonectomies for benign disease are very challenging operations because the inflamed lung is usually quite densely adherent to the inside of the chest cavity,” explained Dr. G. Alex Patterson of Washington University in St. Louis.
In an interview at the Focus on Thoracic Surgery: Technical Challenges and Complications meeting sponsored by the American Association for Thoracic Surgeons, Dr. Patterson talked about the challenges associated with pneumonectomies for benign disease and how surgeons can safely navigate them.
Dr. Patterson had no relevant disclosures.