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Thoracic surgery specialises in managing diseases and abnormalities of the chest. These include problems in the lungs, airway, mediastinum, oesophagus and the chest wall.

Derriford Hospital exclusively provides thoracic surgery for all the population of Devon and Cornwall. Our surgeons meet patients from the peripheral clinics in Exeter, North Devon, Torbay and Cornwall each week.

We carry out the full breath of adult elective and emergency thoracic surgery.

Elective surgery includes cancer surgery of the Lungs and Mediastinum (including the Thymus) and surgery for benign conditions such as correcting Diaphragm abnormalities and Chest Wall deformities.

Emergency surgery includes surgery for complex chest trauma (Derriford Hospital is the regional Major Trauma Centre), chest cavity infections such as Empyema, collapsed lungs (Pneumothorax), build-up of fluid around the heart and lungs (Effusions), and surgery for airway emergencies (such as retrieving foreign bodies from the windpipe, controlling airway bleeding or ‘haemoptysis’ and clearing tumours obstructing the windpipe).