Where are most cancerous lung nodules located?

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asked Aug 10, 2023 in Diseases Conditions by mrsam184 (1,440 points)
Where are most cancerous lung nodules located?

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answered Aug 11, 2023 by CarlosYT (3,250 points)
Most cancerous lung nodules are located in the upper lobe.

Although not all lung nodules that are located in the upper region of the lung are cancerous and not all lung nodules that are located in other places are benign.

The most common cause of lung nodules are benign lung tumors such as hamartomas and inflamed tissue due to infection or inflammation called granulomas.

Malignant and cancerous lung nodules are caused by lung cancer or other cancers that have spread to your lungs.

A lung nodule is suspicious when the lung nodule is greater than 10 mm in diameter which should be biopsied or even removed because a 10 mm or greater size of lung nodule has an 80 percent probability of being malignant.

A lung nodule is removed through performing a thoracotomy.

During a thoracotomy the doctor removes the lung nodule through a larger incision through the ribs, below the shoulder blade.

And for several days after the thoracotomy, a tube is used to drain the excess fluid from your chest.

A lung nodule should be removed when it's greater than 19 mm in diameter.

The size that a lung nodule should be removed is when the lung nodule is greater than 19 mm in diameter because of the 80 percent probability that it could be malignant or cancerous.

Nodules that are greater than 3 cm in size are known as lung masses.

People who are not a candidate for lobectomy are heavy smokers or elderly people because these people don't have enough physiological reserve which means they might not be healthy enough to recover from or undergo the lobectomy surgery.

A lobectomy affects your lung function by destroying part of your lung parenchyma and it's pulmonary function which can result in unexpected improvement of the remaining function in some people who have moderate to severe emphysema.

Each resection of your lung tissue leads to a decrease in your lung function and according to A study in pulmectomy up to 44%, and lobectomy and up to 22% compared to preoperative values which should be taken into account in preoperative assessment.

Biopsies are the most common tool to obtain tissue for diagnosing lung cancer.

Depending on where the nodule is located and the patient's physical condition, the doctor will do either a needle biopsy or a bronchoscopy.

During a needle biopsy, the surgeon uses a syringe to remove tissue from the nodule.

The 10 year survival rate after lobectomy is 80.4%

The 30 day mortality for lobectomy is (3.1% vs 1.9%, p = 0.069).

30 day mortality rates for lobectomy in university hospitals is 3.9 percent and 5.0 percent in district general hospital.

It is hard to breathe after a lobectomy for at least a week or so after the lobectomy surgery and it's normal to have shortness of breath after a lobectomy that goes away within a week.

Some ways you can improve your breathing and make it easier to breathe after a lobectomy are.

Breathe in deeply and slowly through your nose, expanding your lower rib cage, and letting your abdomen (belly) move forward.
Hold for a count of 3 to 5.
Breathe out slowly and completely through pursed lips. Don't force your breath out.
Rest and repeat this 10 times every hour.

After the lobectomy you will have a chest tube in for around 2 days before it can be removed.

The chest tube removal time after a lobectomy will depend on the drainage volume that occurs over a period of 24 hours.

Most people though need the chest tube for up to 2 days and in certain situations you may be sent home with the chest tube although most times the chest tube is removed before you are discharged from the hospital.

The lobectomy that is the most difficult is the left upper lobectomy that is made difficult due to frequent variability of the vascular anatomy of the region and especially when your interlobar fissure is incomplete or even missing.

A lobectomy is not really a high risk surgery although some people are at higher risk complications with lobectomy surgery.

In general though lobectomy is not all that risky for most people and most people come out of a lobectomy just fine without any complications.

Some possible risks and complications of a lobectomy are bleedign that can require a thoractomy or blood transfusion, a persistant air leak that can last longer than 7 days and blood clots in your legs.

The best exercise after a lobectomy is short and simply walking and then you gradually increase the length and intensity of your walk.

While exercise after surgery won't hurt your recovery, there might be additional discomfort, such as rib pain, even when the surgery is minimally invasive like VATS, or numbness in the front of the chest.

You do tend to cough a lot after a lobectomy which is normal and a common symptom in people who have undergone a lobectomy or lung surgery.

The cost of a lobectomy is between $15,811.00 to as much as $21,833.00.

You can live a normal life after a lobectomy and many people do lead and live normal and active lives even when part or all of their lung is removed.

One of the main and primary aims of the lobectomy surgery is to improve the quality of a persons life.

The amount of lung capacity that you lose after a lobectomy is between 22 percent to 44 percent of lung capacity.

Lung lobectomy for cancer sometimes results in volume reduction in patients with emphysema.

The degree of lung expansion, which occurs in order for the lung to occupy the thoracic cavity, also affects the remaining pulmonary function.

In addition, air flow and blood flow are different in the upper and lower lobes.

The long term effects of a lobectomy are feeling tired, air leak from the lung, breathing problems or pain and other risks that can include infection, blood clots in your legs, lungs and bleeding.

Most of the risks are minor and rarely occur although some can become life threatening.

After a lobectomy you'll be in the recovery room in the hospital for a period of 3 days to 5 days depending on the type of lobectomy which was performed and whether or not you hospital/surgeon uses an enhanced recovery protocol.

And upon discharge from the hospital you will be given specific incision care instructions and plans for a follow up appointment with your surgeon.

After a lobectomy you should expect to stay in the hospital for 4 to 5 days to allow you to recover and for the hospital staff to monitor you.

Then you'll continue recovery from the lobectomy at home.

In general, you may be able to return to work without required lifting around two weeks from discharge. You should take four weeks to recover for jobs that require lifting or after a thoracotomy.

A lobectomy is a type of surgery where an entire lobe of the lung is removed for different reasosn such as for lung cancer diagnoses, infection, benign tumors or infection.

The lobectomy is done in order to remove a portion of a diseased lung such as aearly stage lung cancer.

And in addition to lung cancer a lobectomy surgical procedure can also help treat things such as tuberculosis, emphysema and fungal infections.

A lobectomy is a major surgery.

Some side effects of a lobectomy can be serious.

Your lungs are close to your heart, and the surgeon performing the lobectomy has to be very careful not to injure any parts of your heart or nearby blood vessels.

While many people regard lung cancer surgery as a means to "cut out the cancer," one of the primary aims of the surgery is to restore or improve the quality of life.

And, despite what some may think, people can live normal, active lives even when part or all of a lung is removed

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