Twin Cities Heart: Before and After Lung Volume Reduction Surgery

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Before and After Lung Volume Reduction Surgery:

Before Surgery Instructions

After Surgery Instructions

Back to Description of Lung Volume Reduction Surgery

Before Lung Volume Reduction Surgery:

You should NOT have anything to eat or drink after midnight the night before surgery, and you may also be given additional instructions. You should review all of your current medications with the surgeon or anesthesiologist to receive instructions on when and how to take these on the day of surgery. For at least seven days prior to surgery, do not take any non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (such as aspirin, ibuprofen, Indocin, Naprosyn, Daypro, Voltaren, Feldene, Clinoril or Plavix). If you take Coumadin as a blood thinner, you must go off it for four days prior to the procedure. (A blood test will be needed the day before and the morning of surgery.) You should be off of Lovenox for twenty-four hours prior to surgery, unless you have been instructed differently by your surgeon. Please notify your surgeon, nurse or anesthesiologist if you have taken any steroids (such as prednisone or hydrocortisone) in the past six months.

For the medical staff's reference, please bring a list of your current medications with you on the day of surgery. Also bring a copy of your Advance Directive or Living Will, if you have one. It's best to leave all valuables at home. Call our office promptly if you have any problems before or after surgery; for example, report cold symptoms, fever, and unusual pain). Our phone is always answered, either by our regular staff or by our answering service. Remember to pack your exercise shoes, socks, pants and shirt for your pulmonary rehabilitation!

Lung transplant recipients usually stay in the hospital for three to four weeks. Education and physical rehabilitation begin soon after surgery and continue in the outpatient pulmonary transplant rehabilitation program after the patient leaves the hospital.

After Lung Volume Reduction Surgery

The operation typically takes three to four hours. The incision will be closed with stitches or staples, and bandaged to keep the area clean and prevent infection. (A nurse may briefly remove the bandage and check the stitches shortly after surgery.) You'll need to stay in bed until the doctor says it's safe to get up. As you recover, you can expect to be in the hospital for seven to ten days.

Immediately following the operation, your breathing tube will be removed in the operating room, and you will be transferred to the intensive care unit. Less than five percent of patients require the breathing tube to be replaced to assist breathing after the operation. To reduce the risk of pneumonia, patients are encouraged to be out of bed on the day of the procedure. The epidural catheter and Foley catheter (a tube in the bladder to drain urine) remain in place for three postoperative days.