Pope Leo XIV Lung Cancer Surgery Recovery (Credits: X)
\n\nPope Leo XIV’s return to the Vatican 4 days after undergoing lung cancer surgery has brought attention to how advances in surgical techniques are changing recovery after major chest operations. The 71-year-old pontiff underwent surgery on October 13 to remove the lower lobe of his right lung after tests confirmed adenocarcinoma, a type of lung cancer. He was discharged on October 17 after doctors deemed him fit to leave hospital. But does leaving hospital within days mean the body has healed? Not quite.
\n\nAccording to Dr. Kamran Ali, Associate Director of Thoracic Surgery and Lung Transplant at Max Super Speciality Hospital, New Delhi, the Pope underwent uniportal video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS), a minimally invasive technique. “VATS is a minimally invasive chest surgery to do lung cancer surgery as well as other thoracic surgeries, and it employs us utilising a very tiny 3 to 4 cm incision on the side of the chest without cutting the muscles, without splitting the ribs, and we can do the surgery with a camera and few specialised instruments,” he explained.
\n\nThe approach can reduce trauma to the chest wall compared with traditional open surgery. However, the…
Original source: https://www.timesnownews.com/lifestyle
