Your chest (thorax) houses essential organs such as the heart and lungs, major blood vessels and other vital structures. Thoracic surgery is a broad term encompassing operations within the chest, including procedures on the heart, lungs, oesophagus (food pipe), trachea (windpipe), and other areas. Whether it's repairing a heart valve or removing a lung tumour, these thoracic surgical procedures are crucial for addressing various conditions.

At Narayana Health, we specialise in the surgical management of all thoracic diseases affecting the heart, lungs, oesophagus, mediastinum, chest wall, and diaphragm.

As a state-of-the-art tertiary referral centre, we offer all major thoracic surgical procedures, including complex lung resections for cancer, tuberculosis, emphysema, and congenital lesions.

Types of Thoracic Procedures

Thoracic procedures typically involve the repair, removal and/or replacement of an organ or body part in your chest area. Broadly speaking, there are two methodologies for thoracic surgery:

Thoracotomy

In such thoracic procedures, the surgeon makes a cut between the ribs to reach the lungs or other organs in the chest. This is why the method is called open surgery. It is a more traditional surgery and uses retractors and rib spreaders for better visibility and accessibility by the thoracic specialists. Thoracotomy is performed for both diagnosis and treatment.

For instance, the surgeon may remove tissues or a tumour from a lung to send for biopsy, which tests for malignancy (cancerous cells). Open surgery is never the first line of treatment. However, doctors may recommend it for certain thoracic diseases such as lung or oesophageal cancer, tuberculosis, heart failure, chest haemorrhage, persistent pneumothorax (lung collapsing) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Thoracotomy is typically performed either on the right or left side of the chest. Surgeons rarely cut through the breastbone, as this takes much longer to heal.

Video-Assisted Thoracoscopy Surgery (VATS)

This is a much less invasive thoracic procedure than thoracotomy. During this, only small incisions are made, to pass tubes that assist in performing the surgery. One tube has a video camera with a high-intensity light. This helps the surgeon to visualise the chest cavity and organs on a computer monitor. Other tubes have surgical tools to perform the operation. Such procedures require highly experienced thoracic specialists who can use images sent from the camera to perform the surgery.

VATS is also called laparoscopy or keyhole surgery since the incisions made are tiny compared to traditional open surgeries. Being a minimally invasive thoracic procedure, VATS offers several advantages, including:

Less blood loss during surgery
Less pain after surgery
Smaller surgical wound
Faster recovery
Shorter hospital stays
Fewer complications

Video-assisted thoracoscopy surgery is used for both diagnosis and treatment, such as:

Tissue removal to diagnose chest cancers (like lung cancer)
Lung tumour removal
Removing excess fluid or air from the mediastinum (area around the lungs)
Esophagectomy (remove part or all of the oesophagus)
Hiatal hernia repair
Thymectomy (remove the thymus gland from behind the breastbone)
Repairing sections of the heart, lungs, ribs, spine or diaphragm

Our thoracic surgery unit specialises in VATS. The team has performed major intra-thoracic procedures with VATS, enabling our patients to return home faster.

Thoracic Surgery: What Sets Us Apart

When you face thoracic issues, your overall health may decline rapidly. This is because your heart and lungs are vital organs and need to function well for you to have a fulfilling life. Narayana Health has a team of ultra specialists in the thoracic surgery unit. We work together to give our patients the best surgical outcome. We are among the few hospitals in India to offer:

Mediastinoscopy

This thoracic procedure is used to examine the mediastinum, the space just behind the breastbone between your lungs. Apart from the lungs and heart, your chest cavity contains lymph nodes, trachea (windpipe), oesophagus (food pipe) and thymus gland (a part of your immune system). Mediastinoscopy is a diagnostic procedure. It has been extensively used to remove lymph nodes in patients with lung cancer. The nodes are sent to the lab to determine how the cancer has spread and the best treatment choices.

Mediastinoscopy is also used for diagnosing chest infections, Hodgkin's disease, various cancers and inflammation in organs like the liver, lungs, and spleen

Tracheal Surgery and Reconstructions

At Narayana Health, tracheal surgery and reconstructions are our forte and we have the largest series of tracheal reconstructions in Karnataka. Laryngotracheal reconstruction surgery widens the trachea by inserting a small cartilage piece, which helps patients breathe better. Sometimes, children are born with narrow windpipes, while adults may suffer from this condition due to the inflammation of blood vessels or tissues. Laryngotracheal reconstruction provides an airway without using a breathing tube.

Chest Wall Surgery

A chest treatment may involve wall resection or reconstruction. The chest wall protects vital organs, including your heart, lungs and liver. This structure, which comprises of your ribs, spinal column and sternum, is surrounded by blood vessels and muscles. Damage to the chest wall due to infection or conditions (such as air leakage or blood clots) may need chest surgery.

Chest surgery involving resection or reconstruction is among the complex thoracic procedures that our team excels at. While chest resection removes damaged parts of the chest wall, reconstruction uses artificial bone or titanium rib plating to repair it.

Lung Surgery

Lung surgery may be required when this vital organ is severely compromised due to an accident, infection or cancer. We specialise in lung surgery using less invasive techniques for the repair or removal of lung tissue as well as in complex surgeries involving the reconstruction of a part of the lungs or lung transplant.

Our thoracic specialists have vast experience in:

Lobectomy
Lung Transplant
Pneumonectomy
Wedge Resectioning
Segmentomy
Sleeve Resectioning
Lymphadenectomy
Lung volume reduction surgery

Heart Surgery

Narayana Health has earned a strong reputation for reliability in heart surgery. We provide comprehensive cardiac services and use minimally invasive procedures whenever possible. Surgery may be needed to address problems such as heart failure, plaque buildup in a coronary artery, faulty heart valves, dilated or diseased major blood vessels and abnormal heart rhythms. Our cardio surgeons have expertise in:

Angioplasty and Stent
Heart Pacemaker
Heart Valve Replacement
Heart Bypass
Heart Transplant
Paediatric Heart Surgery

A Team of Thoracic Specialists

We have considerable expertise in surgeries for major mediastinal and chest tumours as well as lung and chest reconstructions. Our thoracic surgery team also has vast experience in the management of major cardiothoracic trauma due to road traffic accidents, assault, stab injuries, and gunshots, apart from the routinely handled procedures and surgeries.

Narayana Health has the infrastructure, equipment and expertise to handle the most complex cases that require intricate repair or reconstruction. Such surgeries are performed with unmatched diligence and care. This is why we have become a major referral centre for all types of thoracic procedures.

Our well-equipped facilities, experienced and multidisciplinary physicians, and highly trained staff make us a 'one-stop centre' for all thoracic surgical conditions.