A pneumonectomy (or pneumectomy) is an surgical procedure to remove a lung. Removal of one lobe of the lung is referred to as a lobectomy, and that of a segment of the lung as a segmentectomy. The term pneumonectomy may also be used in a more general sense to encompass removal of all or part of a lung. A typical modern surgical operation For other uses, see Surgery (disambiguation). ... The lungs flank the heart and great vessels in the chest cavity. ...

The most common cause for a pneumonectomy is to excise tumourous tissue arising from lung cancer. Tumor (American English) or tumour (British English) originally means swelling, and is sometimes still used with that meaning. ... Lung cancer is a cancer of the lungs characterised by the presence of malignant tumours. ...

It is clear that such an operation will reduce the respiratory capacity of the patient; before conducting a pneumonectomy, the surgeon will evaluate the ability of the patient to function after the lung tissue is removed.

Pioneering dates

• 1895: first pneumonectomy in multiple stages by William Macewen on a patient with tuberculosis and emphysema
• 1931: first successful pneumonectomy in two stages by Rudolph Nissen on a patient with crush injury to the thorax
• 1932: first lobectomy, by Harold Brunn
• 1933: first successful single-stage total pneumonectomy by Graham and Singer
• 1939: first segmentectomy, by Churchill and Belsey

Apart from cancer of lung the other indications for lobectomy are ,solitary pulmonary nodule(the possibility of undiagnosed small cell cancer in this instance is not neccesarilya rwason for avoiding thoracotomy),bronchiectasis where other forms of trearment have failed ,particularly if it is localised and recurrent hemoptysis is present. In the days prior to AKT ,tuberculosis was sometimes treated surgically. Sir William Macewen (June 22, 1848-March 22, 1924) was a Scottish surgeon who was a pioneer in modern brain surgery. ... Tuberculosis (commonly shortened to TB) is an infection caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which most commonly affects the lungs (pulmonary TB) but can also affect the central nervous system (meningitis), lymphatic system, circulatory system (Miliary tuberculosis), genitourinary system, bones and joints. ... Diagram of a tsetse fly, showing the head, thorax and abdomen The thorax is a division of an animals body that lies between the head and the abdomen. ...

References

• Fuentes, P.Pneumonectomy: historical perspective and prospective insight European Journal of Cardio-thoracic Surgery 23 439–445