While we're at it, let's review three other procedures that have been around for a while.
Lung Transplant
Successful lung transplant is done in select hospitals, but it is very difficult to find good lungs for donation. If a person undergoes transplant he or she usually receives only one new lung in order for another person to receive the other donated lung. Doctors are currently saying that expected survival time after lung transplant is five years if the recipient survives the first year. Of course this varies widely, and people have been known to survive a lot longer than that with one or two "new" lungs.
LVRS
One procedure that has met with success for a small population of patients meeting strict criteria is lung volume reduction surgery (LVRS). This is when the top third of the lungs are removed to allow more room for expansion. This is major surgery that involves putting a patient under general anesthesia, opening up the chest, and operating on the lungs.
Blebectomy
Blebectomy, or bullectomy, involves removing a portion of lung that is non-functional. You can think of a bleb as a big bubble or blister, that when large, may prevent the remaining lung from working efficiently. The main reason to do this procedure is to remove small blebs that are causing lung collapse (pneumothorax). Bullectomy is done once in a while on patients with emphysema who have very large bullae, taking up more than one-third of the volume of the chest on one side. The procedure should be done by a chest surgeon familiar with lung surgery that is done using a tiny camera and small incisions. This procedure is not often indicated for people with emphysema.
Learn what you can about each of these procedures and ask your doctor about them at your next appointment. In order for these treatments to be safe and appropriate, of course not everybody is a candidate, but you never know until you ask!
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