thoracoscopy
Meaning of thoracoscopy: Looking inside the chest cavity through a small opening between the ribs, usually to explain fluid that keeps returning.
Definition of thoracoscopy
Thoracoscopy is an examination of the chest cavity through a small opening between the ribs, using a lighted telescope-like instrument. It gives a direct view of the lung surface, the lining of the chest wall and the outer surface of the sac around the heart. Samples can be taken and fluid drained during the same procedure.
How thoracoscopy is built
- thorac/o Combining form · Greek chest, thorax
- -scopy Suffix · Greek visual examination with an instrument
A medical term is read from its ending backwards: the suffix first, then the prefix, then the root. See all 223 word parts.
Why is it done?
The commonest reason is fluid collecting again and again between the lung and the chest wall when simpler tests have not explained why. Drawing fluid off with a needle answers the question in only some cases, because abnormal cells often sit on the lining rather than floating free in the fluid. Looking directly and sampling the suspicious area gives a far higher yield. Other reasons include taking a piece of lung for diagnosis, sealing a space that keeps refilling, treating a lung that has collapsed more than once, and clearing infected material.
What happens during the procedure?
Two broad approaches exist. Medical thoracoscopy is performed with sedation and local anesthetic, often through a single small opening, while the person continues to breathe independently. Surgical thoracoscopy uses general anesthesia with the lung on that side deliberately deflated so the surgeon can work around it. Either way, air is allowed into the space so the lung falls back from the chest wall and leaves room to see. The thoracoscope passes through a small incision, the cavity is inspected, samples are taken, and a drain is usually left in afterward so the lung can re-expand.
How does it compare with other ways of examining the chest?
| Method | What it provides |
|---|---|
| Chest x-ray | Whether fluid or a shadow is present |
| Computed tomography | Detailed anatomy, still without a tissue answer |
| Needle aspiration | Only the cells floating in the fluid |
| Thoracoscopy | Direct view plus tissue from the abnormal area |
A chest x-ray starts most of these pathways and thoracoscopy usually ends them, since tissue examined under a microscope is what establishes the diagnosis.
What are the risks?
A persistent air leak from the lung surface is the most frequent problem and usually settles with the drain left in place longer. Bleeding, infection within the space and pain along the ribs at the entry site also occur. Serious complications are uncommon. Discomfort at the drain site is expected for some days, and the procedure normally involves a short hospital stay.
Also known as
Used in a sentence
Thoracoscopy was arranged after two aspirations failed to explain the recurrent pleural effusion.
Good to know
Fluid drawn off with a needle may show nothing, while thoracoscopy samples the lining under direct vision and settles many cases that repeated aspiration leaves unresolved.
Word origin
Where “thoracoscopy” comes from
From the Greek thorax, meaning chest, and skopein, to look at, with the ending -y marking the act itself.