Segment resection for lung cancer

From 1958 to 1979 1,951 pulmonary resections for lung cancer were performed in our hospital. Segment or wedge resections were carried out in 91 patients, in 34 as palliative operations while in 57, with stage I peripheral carcinoma, the resection was curative. The operative mortality rate for this procedure showed no difference to that for lobectomy at the same stage. The 5-year survival rate for these segment resection patients was 23%, while it was 45% for lobectomy patients. Consequently, segment resection cannot be regarded as a routine method, but rather as an emergency procedure in functionally otherwise inoperable cases.