Minimally Invasive Surgery Transforms Lung Cancer Recovery

Dr. Geoffrey B. Pelz, a thoracic surgeon at Hackensack University Medical Center in New Jersey, highlighted the impact of modern surgical advances on lung cancer treatment. He notes that traditional surgeries involved large cuts, muscle damage, and even rib cracking, causing intense pain and longer hospital stays.

Today, robotic and video-assisted thoracic surgeries use smaller incisions, causing far less trauma. This means many patients can leave the hospital the day after surgery and return to most daily activities within two weeks.

Pelz emphasizes that these techniques have transformed lung cancer care by reducing recovery times and helping patients get back to their normal lives much sooner.

Transcript

As a thoracic surgeon specializing in minimally invasive techniques, how have advancements like robotic surgery and video-assisted thoracic surgery improved outcomes for patients with lung cancer?

Minimally invasive surgery, and specifically robotic surgery, has definitely made a huge difference in patient care and outcomes over the past couple of decades. It is certainly different from the old days when a huge incision would be made on a person's side, cutting through a lot of muscle, spreading the ribs apart, and even cracking the ribs. This caused a lot of trauma and, in addition to an increased length of stay for the initial hospital visit, led to many issues with post-op pain and recovery. A lot of that has really been mitigated with the advent of minimally invasive surgery.

For doing even more complex lobectomies for lung cancer, by performing these minimally invasively, many patients can leave the day after surgery, and within about two weeks, they have recovered to where they can get back to doing most of their normal activity. Within a couple more weeks, they are back to living their lives. So, it has really made a big difference in getting people the care they need and then getting them back to their lives and back to where they were before.

Transcript has been edited for clarity and conciseness

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