What is the treatment for small lung nodules

During the physical examination, X-rays are required. If the X-ray shows small shadows in the lungs, lung disease should be considered. Many people will think they have lung cancer or pneumonia, but in fact they may also be small lung nodules. Patients with small lung nodules should pay attention to the different types of the disease and conduct examinations and treatments. The disease must be diagnosed first to find a breakthrough in treatment and can be treated with common drugs.

Small lung nodules are not necessarily lung cancer.

Small lung nodules can be divided into two categories: benign and malignant. Benign lung nodules include pulmonary hamartoma, bronchial adenoma, inflammatory lesions (also known as inflammatory pseudotumor), tuberculoma, etc. These benign lung nodules are harmless to the human body and rarely cause clinical symptoms. Malignant pulmonary nodules include small lung cancers or early lung cancers, and lung metastases. Generally speaking, benign nodules and malignant nodules each account for a certain proportion of small lung nodules. If small lung nodules are found during a physical examination, citizens do not need to worry too much.

Most patients who visit the thoracic surgery department have small lung nodules found through chest X-rays, or chest CT scans. Young patients often come to the outpatient clinic for consultation. After discovering small lung nodules, you should pay attention to whether you have some high-risk factors for lung cancer, such as old age, long-term smoking history or second-hand smoke, excessive inhalation of oil smoke, and a history of malignant tumors in other parts of the body. Small lung nodules should not have any symptoms, but once many people know they have lung nodules, they will immediately "feel" many symptoms, including chest pain, cough, etc.

Don’t panic if you find small lung nodules during a physical examination. You can do a chest enhanced CT scan to make a diagnosis. To determine whether a small lung nodule is benign or malignant, the most important thing is to compare the size, shape and edge structure of CT images. The edges of malignant lung nodules will have some "burrs", like hair growing out, and the boundaries are unclear; benign lung nodules sometimes show signs of calcification, and the nodules are relatively round with clear boundaries. There are also some small solid nodules that look like "frosted glass" and a faint shadow. You must be very careful with these nodules, as the probability of them being tumors is relatively high. In addition, it is necessary to dynamically observe the growth rate of the small lung nodule. If it grows rapidly, increasing by more than 20% within a few months, it may be a malignant lesion. If there is no significant change within one or two years, there is no need to worry.

I once met a patient who had a nodule in each lung. The expert suggested that the patient could observe the condition, but he was under great psychological pressure and the two small nodules had affected his normal life and mood. In this case, the expert performed a minimally invasive surgery to remove the two small nodules and perform a biopsy. The result was benign and the patient was very happy.

When small lung nodules are discovered, if there are no high-risk factors, follow-up observation can be carried out, with a chest CT scan every three to four months and observation for one and a half to two years. If there is no change in two years, you can rest assured. However, if it is a small ground glass nodule, even if it has not increased in size within half a year, it should still be observed. Clinically, it has been found that the detection rate of low-dose chest CT screening is much higher than that of chest X-ray, while chest X-ray can only detect small lung nodules larger than 1 cm or 1.5 cm. Therefore, if you want to distinguish between benign and malignant small lung nodules, it is actually best to do a chest CT enhancement. Enhanced imaging is an important sign for distinguishing whether it is a malignant tumor. In addition, blood can be drawn for tumor marker testing, such as carcinoembryonic antigen, squamous cell carcinoma antigen, cytokeratin 21 and other indicators.