Introduction to VATS Lobectomy Lung Surgery

There are over 200,000 diagnosed cases of lung cancer (LC) each year in the United States. While the incidence rate has declined since 1991, the disease remains the leading cause of cancer-related death. When the condition is detected in stage 1 (i.e. localized within the lung), it can be treated successfully. By the time cancerous cells have metastasized and spread to distant lymph nodes, it becomes more difficult to contain.

In the past, the disease was treated through thoracotomy (also known as open chest surgery). The patient’s thoracic cavity was accessed by the surgeon after a long incision was made into the chest. The breastbone was cut and the ribs were spread to provide working space. Because the ribs have limited flexibility, the procedure occasionally resulted in fractures. To resolve this issue, thoracic surgeons began to remove portions of the patient’s ribcage.

Today, minimally invasive techniques are often used to treat lung cancer. Once of these techniques is a VATS lobectomy. This article will provide an overview of the procedure and describe what to expect during recovery.

How is The Operation Performed?

A lobectomy is the surgical removal of a lobe (i.e. section of a lung). It is one of the most common procedures done today to treat early-stage LC. With a VATS lobectomy, four incisions are made into the sides of the patient’s chest. Three of the four cuts are usually less than one inch in size. The fourth incision can reach several inches. No need to cut the …

How Do We Know When We Are Not Buying Health Insurance?

Among many categories of personal health coverage sold today, you can encounter products that look and sound like healthcare insurance, but they are not, in reality they do not provide medical insurance protection at all. Be cautious these products are not a replacement for medical coverage.

Let’s take a look at some of the other products that do not provide substitution for health insurance coverage

Dread Disease policies.

Dread disease policies have a tendency to have poor value and they only cover treatments for specific disease like diabetes. They are so poor in value that some states have banned them all together and they have cautioned consumers about these policies.

Accident-only policies.

Accident-only coverage pays for care you want on account of an accident that’s not due to sickness. Since a good thorough policy will cover costs associated with accidents as well as sickness, accident only policies often aren’t a good value. Supplemental policies Supplemental policies ( infrequently called hospice indemnity policies ) pay cash advantages for every day you are in the surgery. Often nonetheless, the money benefit will be far away from the price of hospital care. Still, these policies can be well liked because they are very inexpensive and can be easy to purchase.

Supplemental policies.

Supplemental policies could be a choice if you would like to cover extras that may come up when you get ill. But they sometimes are not a good purchase and they should not be confused with full coverage health insurance. The …