THORACIC SURGERY

Some patients may require surgical procedures to structure within their thorax (the cavity between the neck and diaphragm) other than their heart. These include operations on the lungs, lung lining (pleura), mediastinal lymph nodes, oesophagus, trachea and chest wall. Thoracic surgery may involve an open surgical operation or video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS). VATS is a minimally invasive surgical technique that uses a thoracic endoscope to view the chest cavity on a video monitor after the lung has been collapsed using special surgical instruments inserted through 3-4 small skin incisions.