A lung segmentectomy is surgery to remove one or more small pieces, or segments, of your lungs. Your lungs are made up of five parts called lobes. Each lobe has several segments. You may have this surgery to remove cancer if the cancer is small enough. It also may be done if a part of your lungs has been damaged by an infection, disease, or injury.

There are two main options: minimally invasive surgery and thoracotomy.

For minimally invasive surgery, doctors will use either video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) or robotic-assisted thoracic surgery (RATS, or robotic VATS).

During VATS the doctor makes small cuts in your chest. Then the doctor guides a small video camera through a cut between your ribs and to your lungs. It allows the doctor to see inside your chest without having to make a big cut. Then the doctor cuts away the segment of your lungs that’s causing problems.

During RATS the doctor uses robotic instruments and a 3D camera. This allows the doctor to make very small, precise cuts.

If minimally invasive surgery isn’t possible, the doctor will do a thoracotomy. This is open lung surgery. That means the doctor will make a single large cut between your ribs to open up your chest. Then they'll remove the lung segment.

Before the surgery the doctor will do tests to learn about your overall health and make a plan for your surgery.

Make sure to ask your doctor about when to stop or adjust any medicines, herbs, vitamins, or supplements you're taking. On the day before surgery, follow your doctor's instructions about when to stop eating or drinking.

After surgery you may have a chest tube to drain extra air and fluid from your chest. The doctor will remove the tube before you leave the hospital.

How long you stay in the hospital depends on the type of surgery you had, your overall health, and how well your lungs are working.

• If you had VATS or RATS, you can probably leave the hospital after 2 or 3 days.
• If you had a thoracotomy, you need more time to recover. Most people can go home after about a week.

After you leave the hospital, you need to rest at home to give your body time to heal. Talk to your doctor about when it’s safe to resume your normal activities like work, driving, and being active.

The main benefit of this surgery is that it removes only a small part of your lung. That means it doesn’t affect how well your lungs work as much as a lobectomy (removing a lobe of your lung) or a pneumonectomy (removing one of your lungs).

But there are also risks. If you had a segmentectomy to remove cancer, it may be more likely that the cancer will come back. That’s because less lung tissue is removed, so there's a higher chance that cancer cells are left in the body.

Other problems that may happen include:

• An irregular heartbeat.
• Bleeding.
• Infection.
• An air leak in your lung.
• A collapsed lung.
• Blood clots.

Talk with your doctor about the benefits and risks of a lung segmentectomy. The doctor can help you make a decision you're comfortable with.