Things move along. Lung surgery developed, albeit at a moderate pace and all for infection. In the pre-antibiotic era the only therapeutic options were to drain an abscess cavity or to excise an infected area of the lung. In 1885 an Italian surgeon performed perhaps the first successful lobectomy in Read More
Category: Chest Surgery
Animals and Humans A few years after Péan’s operation Block, a Polish surgeon, advanced the possibility of operating on the lung when he reported the successful performance of pneumonectomy (removing the entire lung) in rabbits. His reports and demonstrations of his technique to curious surgeons created a modest stir in Read More
Trauma Leads the Way Let’s begin with Rolandus’s story from 1499. He needed more than a little persuasion to act! “Called to a citizen of Bologna on the sixth day after his wound, I found a portion of the lung issued between two ribs; the afflux of the spirits and Read More
As discussed in my previous blog, chest operations became feasible in the 20th century once the abilities to induce a state of general anesthesia and to use positive pressure endotracheal ventilation of the lungs were in place. In the USA these procedures were performed by General Surgeons. In fact, that Read More
History This is the first of a series of blogs on Thoracic Surgery and Thoracic Surgeons. Eventually I’ll get to the story of the development of this surgical specialty, discuss the current state-of-the-art, and review the role of thoracic surgeons in the treatment of such diseases as lung cancer and Read More
