Whether surgery can be performed when lung cancer is accompanied by pleural effusion needs to be treated differently

Clinically, some lung cancer patients are found to have pleural effusion when they seek medical treatment. Does this mean that they cannot undergo surgery when they have pleural effusion? This needs to be treated differently according to the situation.

The first case is reactive, for example, because the patient has a long-term fever, malnutrition, hypoproteinemia, which leads to pleural effusion, and even edema of the lower limbs. Or because the tumor blocks the bronchus, atelectasis occurs, causing pleural effusion; the second case is pleural effusion caused by tumor metastasis. In this case, the tumor spreads in the chest cavity, and there are large and small metastatic nodules on the pleura on the surface of the lungs and ribs. The tumor is likely to have hemorrhagic necrosis, so this kind of pleural effusion is bloody, like meat washing water when it is light, and like blood when it is deep.

For lung cancer patients with pleural effusion, doctors generally recommend B-ultrasound followed by puncture and drainage. After drainage, the compression on the lungs will be improved, and the patient's symptoms will also improve accordingly. At the same time, it can also clearly diagnose whether the pleural effusion is caused by lung cancer metastasis.

If the pleural effusion of lung cancer patients belongs to the first case, then surgery can be performed, but if it is the second case, then surgery loses its meaning because the metastasis of pleural effusion means that the patient has entered stage 4 lung cancer and can no longer prolong his life through surgery.