Conditions and Treatments
When appropriate, many conditions can be treated with minimally invasive methods. One of these is video assisted thoracic surgery (VATS). Many complex medical procedures that formerly required traditional open surgery are now being performed with VATS, which requires only a small number of incisions or "ports" through which the surgeon inserts specially designed surgical devices, one of which is a small video camera called a thoracoscope that allows the surgeon to view the procedure on a video monitor.
Achalasia
- Laparoscopic myotomy
Diaphragmatic Paralysis
- VATS or open plication
Emphysema
- Bleb resection (spontaneous pneumothorax)
- Bullectomy
- Lung volume reduction surgery (currently, the center is the only service in Georgia to offer lung volume reduction surgery for Medicare patients)
- As the surgical staff of the Emory Lung Transplant Program, our surgeons also perform lung transplantation
Esophageal Cancer
- Esophagectomy (Ivor Lewis or transhiatal)
- Colon interposition for esophageal replacement
- Minimally invasive esophagectomy (thoracoscopy and laparoscopy)
Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease
- Laparoscopic repair (Nissen fundoplication)
Hiatal Hernia/Paraesophageal Hernia
- Laparoscopic or open repair
Hyperhidrosis (Facial, Palmar, Axillary)
- MTS or microthoracoscopic sympathectomy (outpatient)
Lung Cancer
- Lobectomy, bilobectomy, pneumonectomy
- VATS (video-assisted thoracic surgery) lobectomy
- Sleeve resections (bronchoplasty and arterioplasty)
- Extended resections (chest wall, vertebral body, etc.)
Malignant Pleural Effusion
- VATS talc pleurodesis
- PleuRx Catheter placement
- Sleeve resections (bronchoplasty and arterioplasty)
- Extended resections (chest wall, vertebral body, etc.)
Mesothelioma
- Pleurectomy
- Extrapleural pneumonectomy
- VATS pleural biopsy and talc pleurodesis
Metastatic Cancer to Lungs (Colon, Renal, Sarcoma, etc.)
- Solitary or multiple wedge excisions (VATS, thoracotomy or median sternotomy)
Pericardial Effusion
- VATS biopsy and/or drainage
Thoracic Outlet Syndrome
- First rib resection
Tracheal Stenosis and/or Cancer
- Tracheal dilatation, resection and reconstruction
