Lung Volume Reduction Surgery at Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center (Ichilov Medical Center)

Lung volume reduction surgery is a surgical procedure that is performed to remove damaged, emphysematous lung tissue to allow the remaining tissue to function better. This procedure is designed to help patients with severe emphysema, a type of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), to breathe easier. The surgery involves removing small wedges of diseased lung tissue, usually around 20 to 30 percent of each lung, to make the lung smaller and allow the remaining tissue to function better.

• Your doctor may recommend you undergo this surgery if you have severe COPD. However, not everyone with COPD can undergo this surgery. The best candidates are those who:

• Have severe lung damage (emphysema), especially in the upper portion of the lung.

• Have not smoked for at least 6 months.

• Are younger than 75 to 80 years old.

• Cannot exercise well after completing pulmonary rehabilitation.

In order to determine whether you might benefit from lung volume reduction surgery, your doctor may recommend you to have:

• Physiological evaluation and imaging tests, including tests of the heart and lung function and exercise tests. In some cases, you may also need a computerized tomography (CT) scan of your lungs to evaluate the location and severity of the emphysema.

• Initiation of pulmonary rehabilitation, which is a program that helps increase awareness of people’s physical function and emotion to empower people to take care of themselves.