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Other Mesothelioma Articles

• Mesothelioma
• Diagnosing Mesothelioma
• Developing Mesothelioma
• Mesothelioma Symptoms
• Mesothelioma - Are You at Risk?
• Pleural Mesothelioma
• Mesothelioma Stages
• Mesothelioma Support
• Mesothelioma Surgery
• Mesothelioma Chemotherapy

If you are diagnosed with mesothelioma, you may be able to have one of many different types of surgery to help out in different ways.

There are various procedures that you may have to undergo and they can usually be classified in three ways.

There are diagnostic procedures, palliative procedures, and curative procedures.

Diagnostic procedures are basically the step after you are suspected to have mesothelioma and you have fluid buildup or what could be a tumor growing in either the inner or outer lining of your lungs.

A common procedure is called a thoracoscopy. This procedure is used to get an absolute diagnosis and sometimes to check how large a tumor may be.

Video-assisted thoracic surgery is also an option while in the diagnostic stage. A small camera is inserted into the chest so the pathologist can get a good look at what is going on and also get a sample of tissues.

Palliative surgery is intended to treat one or more symptoms of mesothelioma but doesn’t actually stop the progression of the disease. A chest tube to drain excess fluid build-up is one of the first symptoms and can be persistent. Occasionally, a small catheter may be used for continuous drainage.

Curative procedures, though not 100% effective, seek to eliminate the entire tumor and hopefully cure the disease without using chemotherapy or radiation. If the tumor can’t be removed, sometimes the entire lung may have to be excised. This is called pneumonectomy. This procedure is also used in peritoneal mesothelioma also.

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