Patient Guide to Testing - Thorascopic Chest Biopsy
4. Thoracoscopic chest biopsy
This procedure involves your physician inserting a lighted tube (thoracoscope) through a 1/2 - 1-inch incision in your chest wall to directly visualize your lung. The biopsy is then taken with other instruments inserted through 1-2 similar size incisions. This procedure requires general anesthesia and so requires insertion of a chest tube that will require hospitalization for at least 24-48 hours.
Advantages:
Advantages to a thoracoscopic chest biopsy include knowing if the results are positive for cancer the day of the procedure. However, the final pathology report will take up to 3-5 working days.
Side effects:
This procedure involves general anesthesia and there is a small risk of bleeding and infection. There is also a small risk of developing an air leak around the chest tube site that may require added days in the hospital.
What to expect after the procedure:
You will have pain from the incision sites as well as from the chest tube. The chest tube will be removed as soon as your lung has fully expanded (12-48 hours) and there is no air leaking from the lung. You will possibly go home with sutures that will need to be removed in a week. You will need to keep the incision and chest tube sites clean and dry. You may shower as soon as the sutures are removed (if you have any).
What to report to your physician:
- Increased shortness of breath
- Chest pain
- Fever more than 101 degrees
- Redness or drainage around the incision or chest tube sites
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