Surgical Management of Lung Cancer

Question 1

history of someone with lung cancer

Answer 1

pain especially in bones, headaches and personality change, blood in urine

Question 2

examination of someone with lung cancer

Answer 2

recurrent laryngeal nerve palsy, brachial plexus palsy, chest wall masses

Question 3

things to look for in CXR

Answer 3

pleural effusion, chest wall invasion (able to get rid of), phrenic nerve palsy. collapsed love or lung

Question 4

what would blood results look like

Answer 4

anaemia, abnormal liver functions as alkaline phospahtsse goes up when there is liver metastasis, low sodium levels

Question 5

bronchoscopy

Answer 5

thin tube passed down mouth and lungs to look at lung passages

Question 6

mediastinoscopy

Answer 6

small incision above sternum to see if lymph’s are metestatiic

Question 7

what tests are down to determine fitness for surgery

Answer 7

spirometry, diffusion studies (inhale xenon and injected with technetium to see how much blood and air is getting to eat lung), arterial blood gas

Question 8

aims for surgical treatment

Answer 8

curative resection is the goal, remove minimum amount of lung tissue, resection of parental structures if feasible, try and have a firm diagnosis of malignancy before lung resection