Pneumonectomy

What you should know

A pneumonectomy (new-muh-nek-tuh-mee) is surgery to open your chest wall. You may need a pneumonectomy if you have a lung abscess (infection), lung cancer, or blebs from emphysema (m-fuh-z-muh) blebs. A bleb is lung tissue that stretches like a balloon. These blebs press on the rest of the lung making it hard for you to breathe.

Care Agreement

You have the right to help plan your care. Learn about your health condition and how it may be treated. Discuss treatment options with your caregivers to decide what care you want to receive. You always have the right to refuse treatment.

Risks

There are always risks with having surgery. You may bleed more than usual, get an infection, have trouble breathing, or get blood clots. Caregivers will watch you closely for these problems. If you don't have surgery, other tests may be needed to find the cause of your illness. This may take longer than if you had surgery. It may also be harder to find the exact cause of your illness. Call your caregiver if you are worried or have questions about your health problem or care.

Getting Ready

The Week Before Surgery:

• Ask your caregiver if you need to stop taking aspirin or any other blood thinning medicines before your procedure.
  
  
• Tell your caregiver about any over-the-counter medicines you are taking such as vitamins, herbs, food supplements, or laxatives. Your caregivers can find out if these medicines interact with medicines you may need during surgery.
  
  
• You may need blood tests before your procedure. Talk to your caregiver about these or other tests you may need. Write down the date, time and location for each test.
  
  
• Take antibiotic (an-ti-bi-ah-tik) medicine before surgery if given to you by your caregiver.
  
  
• You may be given a tour of the ICU before your surgery if caregivers think you may need to go there after surgery. This way you will become familiar with this special care unit.
  
  
• If caregivers think you may need a blood transfusion during surgery, you may be able to donate your own blood before surgery. This is called autologous (ah-tall-uh-gus) blood donation. This must be done no later than 3 days before surgery. Or, you may also ask a family member or friend with the same blood type to donate their blood. This is called directed blood donation. Talk to your caregiver for more information on autologous or directed blood donation.

The Night Before Surgery:

• You may be given a pill to take to help you sleep.
  
  
• Ask caregivers about directions for eating and drinking.

The Day of Surgery:

• Write down the correct date, time, and location of your surgery.
  
  
• Wear loose, comfortable clothing to the hospital.
  
  
• Ask your caregiver before taking any medicine on the day of surgery. These medicines include insulin, diabetic pills, high blood pressure pills, or heart pills. Bring a list of your medicines or the pill bottles with you to the hospital.
  
  
• Do not wear contact lenses the day of surgery. You may wear your glasses.
  
  
• Bring your personal belongings with you to the hospital. These include your bathrobe, toothbrush, denture cup (if needed), hairbrush, and slippers. Do not wear jewelry or bring money or important personal papers to the hospital.
  
  
• An anesthesiologist (an-iss-thee-z-all-o-jist) may talk to you before your surgery. This is the caregiver who gives you medicine before and during surgery so that you do not feel or remember the surgery.
  
  
• Informed Consent: You have the right to understand your health problem in words you can understand. You should be told what tests, treatments, or procedures may be done to treat your problem. Your doctor should also tell you about the risks and benefits of each treatment. You may be asked to sign a consent form that gives caregivers permission to do certain tests, treatments, or procedures. If you are unable to give your consent, someone who has permission can sign this form for you. A consent form is a legal piece of paper that tells exactly what will be done to you. Before giving your consent, make sure all your questions have been answered so that you understand what may happen.

Treatment

What Will Happen:

• You will be asked to change into a hospital gown. You may be given medicine in your IV to help you relax or make you drowsy. You will be taken on a cart to the operating room. You will get medicine called general anesthesia (an-iss-thee-zuh) to keep you completely asleep during surgery.
  
  
• A long incision (cut) is made between 2 ribs from front to back on one side of your chest. Caregivers may remove a little piece of your lung and send it to the lab to be studied. Or, you may need all or a part (a lobe) of one lung removed. One or two chest tubes may be put in your chest during surgery. These tubes help your lungs fill back up with air after surgery. The incision is closed with wire and stitches (thread) or staples.

After Surgery:

You will be taken to a recovery room. You will be there until you wake up. You will then be taken back to your room or you may be taken to the ICU if needed. A bandage will cover your stitches/staples. Do not get out of bed until your caregiver says it is OK. A tube may be left in your mouth and throat for a day or two after surgery. The tube may be hooked up to a machine called a ventilator, which will breathe for you. You cannot talk while on a ventilator but you can hear.

Waiting Room:

This is a room where your family can wait until you are ready for visitors after surgery. Your doctor or nurse can then find them to let them know how the pneumonectomy went. If your family leaves the hospital, ask them to leave a phone number where they can be reached. When it is time for you to go home after surgery, an adult should drive you home and should stay with you for 24 hours. Do not drive home alone.

Contact a caregiver if

• You have a fever.
  
  
• You have questions or concerns about your surgery.
  
  
• The problems for which you are having the pneumonectomy get worse.
  
  
• You cannot make it to your surgery appointment on time.

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The above information is an educational aid only. It is not intended as medical advice for individual conditions or treatments. Talk to your doctor, nurse or pharmacist before following any medical regimen to see if it is safe and effective for you.