Surgical Procedures & Innovations  Video Assisted Thoracic Surgery (VATS)
VATS for emphysema: During Lung Volume Reduction Surgery (LVARS), one incision permits access of the thorascope (for viewing).
Forceps and a surgical stapling instrument are used to remove the affected tissue through two other incisions. |
Minimally invasive thoracic surgery affords performance of a variety of diagnostic and therapeutic procedures through smaller incisions in the chest wall and without the need to spread the ribs to gain access to the lungs or esophagus.
In selected patients, most procedures that can be done through a standard incision can also be performed with VATS.
The benefits for patients include less postoperative pain, shorter hospital stays, faster recovery from surgery, and a quicker return to full activity.
Some of the more common diseases being treated with VATS by our surgical staff include:
- Lung cancer
- Pleural diseases
- Interstitial lung disease
- Emphysema
- Hyperhidrosis
- Esophageal cancer
When Leah Richter of Englewood, NJ lost her voice during the spring she was referred to an ear-nose-and-throat specialist in Englewood.
"He diagnosed a reflux problem and put me on 20 mg of Prilosec. It didn't help."
A colleague then suggested that Mrs. Richter see a second ENT specialist, who noticed that her right vocal cord didn't look quite as "good" as the left.
He ordered MRI and CT scans of her neck and lungs.
The CT radiologist saw a lesion in her lung that was suspicious for lung cancer and referred her for a scan at Columbia Kreitchman PET Center.
PET scanning is a new imaging technique used to differentiate benign from malignant tumors.
Sure enough, Mrs. Richter's PET scan showed an abnormal lesion, and a needle biopsy confirmed that the lesion was malignant.
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