An Australian first surgery carried out in Perth has enabled a patient with suspected lung cancer to have biopsies taken, cancer confirmed and then removed all in one operation, under one anaesthetic.
The ground-breaking procedure was carried out at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital (SCGH) in late January.
Respiratory medicine consultant Dr Dhaval Thakkar led the surgery, detecting the cancer deep in the lungs, before carrying out precision tissue sampling and then highlighting the cancer with a glowing marker for a thoracic surgeon to easily locate.
Thoracic surgeon Dr Miguel Mesa-Guzman followed with keyhole surgery that led to the patient waking up cancer free.
Dr Thakker said while the surgery involved a lot of planning and communication to set up, it improved hospital efficiency as it likely replaced what would have been multiple procedures. Instead, the entire surgery was carried out in just five hours.
He said the hospital’s bronchoscopy robot equipment allowed greater access to lesions or nodules on the lungs and mapped out defined pathways.
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“We are usually constrained as to whether the airway reaches the lesion but the robotic system helps us get to those difficult to reach parts of the lungs,” Dr Thakker said.
He said his team had pathologists right at the bedside to carry out the biopsy process.
“They can tell us it looks like normal lung or whether it could be inflammatory or could be cancer,” Dr Thakker said.
He said it was an exciting surgery to be part of and was proof that the public hospital system in Australia could take on complex procedures.
Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in Australia and often has no symptoms until the disease is well advanced.
Dr Thakker said such a surgery was only suitable for patients with early stage lesions, with no evidence of spread.
SCGH executive director Dr Jodi Graham congratulated those involved.
“Our team is pioneering enhanced patient outcomes and I congratulate them on their vision of diagnosing and removing cancer within one anaesthetic,” she said.
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Dr Thakker said lung cancer screening was vital to support best outcomes.
“Routine screening for those at risk is such an important aspect of what we can do, we can identify abnormal growths earlier, the quicker we treat and the better the outcome,” he said.
Another similar surgery is scheduled at SCGH in March.
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