Pulmonary Lobectomy Side Effects and Warnings

Possible Complications

If you are planning to have a lobectomy, your doctor will review a list of possible complications, which may include:

• Infection

• Bleeding

• Anesthesia-related problems

• Collapsed lung

• Need for prolonged artificial respiration on a ventilator

• Damage to neighboring organs or structures

• Death

Factors that may increase the risk of complications include:

• Advanced age
• Obesity
• Smoking
• Diabetes
• Excessive alcohol intake

Call Your Doctor

After you leave the hospital, call your doctor if any of the following occurs:

• Signs of infection, including fever and chills
• Redness, swelling, increasing pain, excessive bleeding, or any discharge from the incision site
• Nausea and/or vomiting that you cannot control with the medicines you were given after surgery, or which persist for more than two days after discharge from the hospital
• Pain that you cannot control with the medicines you have been given
• Pain, burning, urgency or frequency of urination, or persistent bleeding in the urine
• Cough, shortness of breath, or chest pain
• Coughing up yellow, green, or bloody mucus
• Pain and/or swelling in your feet, calves, or legs

Call 911 or go to the emergency room immediately if any of the following occurs:

• Sudden chest pain
• Sudden shortness of breath

If you think you have an emergency, CALL 911.