How long does it take to recover after lung surgery?

Lobectomy is a medical treatment for lung disease or lung cancer. Generally, it takes about 3-6 months to recover after a lobectomy. Timely care is needed in daily life. You can drink some warm water appropriately, try not to cough and expectorate, and stay in bed more.

Lobectomy

Lobectomy is suitable for peripheral lung cancer and irreversible lesions confined to the lung lobe. Under general anesthesia, an incision is made between the ribs to expose the lungs; after examining the chest cavity, the diseased lobe is removed and a drainage strip is placed to drain the air, fluid and blood in the pleural cavity; then the chest cavity is closed and the skin is sutured.

Preoperative preparation

1. Use X-ray examination to determine the location of the lesion and understand the condition of the lungs.

2. For patients with concurrent infection and excessive secretions, anti-infection treatment and sputum volume control should be given.

3. Smokers should abstain from smoking for more than 2 weeks.

4. Perform pulmonary function tests and blood gas analysis.

5. Correct heart function, improve overall nutrition, etc.

Surgical procedures

Right upper lobectomy

1. Pull the upper lobe back, open the mediastinal pleura, and expose the upper lobe hilar vessels. First, free the apical branch and anterior branch of the pulmonary artery, and ligate and cut them separately. The apical, anterior, and posterior branches of the superior pulmonary vein are then treated.

Postoperative care after lobectomy

1. Keep the airway open after surgery:

Timely elimination of respiratory secretions is an effective measure to prevent complications. One method of assisting in expectoration is back tapping: the patient sits down, and the nurse stands by the bed and cups his hands to increase the resonance force and loosen the phlegm. Start at the base of the patient's lungs. Perform forceful tapping on the chest or back from top to bottom, from the edge to the middle. At the same time, ask the patient to cough and press the chest on the operated side with the hand. Relax in time when inhaling and apply pressure when coughing to relieve wound pain. Nebulizer inhalation; routine nebulizer inhalation for about 3 days after surgery, 15-20 minutes each time, and the smoke should not be too large; when the patient has a dry throat and thirst that affects coughing, gargle or drink a small amount of warm water as appropriate.

2. Care of chest drainage tube:

The purpose of placing a drainage tube after lobectomy is to drain the accumulated air, fluid and blood in the patient's chest to the outside of the body in a timely manner, so that the remaining lung can be re-expanded in time, which helps to eliminate the residual cavity in the chest. Therefore, after lying flat for 6 hours after surgery, the patient should change to a semi-sitting position to facilitate drainage. Pay attention to whether the water seal bottle cap is loose and whether the tube is detached, twisted or bent. In order to maintain the drainage tube of the water seal bottle and prevent blood clots from blocking the tube lumen, pay attention to the movement of the water column in the water seal bottle, the nature, color, and amount of the drainage fluid, and keep records.

3. Early Activities:

Pay attention to rest and relieve pain. Appropriate analgesia is given. Commonly used analgesic methods include analgesic pumps. Patients are encouraged to move early. They can sit by the bed on the second day after surgery, and can stand slightly if their condition permits. They can move around indoors after 3 days. Early activities can promote the recovery of various body functions, increase lung ventilation, and facilitate the discharge of phlegm. They can also allow accumulated blood, air, and fluid to be discharged through the drainage tube, thus promoting lung re-expansion.

4. Take good care of your diet:

Six hours after waking up from the operation, the patient should be given a high-protein, high-calorie, high-vitamin, easily digestible liquid or semi-liquid diet in small amounts and frequent meals, which will help improve the body's tissue repair and defense capabilities.

5. Strengthen physical function training:

Due to the long bed rest time after surgery, the patient should be turned over every 2 hours and the pressure areas of the skin should be massaged 6 hours after surgery. On the second day after surgery, the patient should be asked to use his upper limbs to comb his hair, hold a bowl, touch the contralateral auricle from the top of the head, etc. The purpose is to exercise the pectoralis major muscle on the affected side and prevent chronic paralysis of the affected upper limb.