A 29-year-old member asked:
Can mechanical ventilation aid lung cancer patients?
3 doctor answers • 10 doctors weighed in
Dr. Brian Mottanswered
Thoracic Surgery 30 years experience
Not really: Mechanical ventilation is to assist patients whose lungs are so sick they can't breathe adequately on their own. There is no advantage from a lung cancer perspective to be on a ventilator.
5.7k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
Dr. William Walshanswered
Addiction Medicine 18 years experience
Depends: If they have just had surgery or have a treatable pneumonia, yes. If they have respiratory failure from the cancer, it is simply prolonging the dying process.
5.7k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
Dr. Thomas Birdasanswered
Thoracic Surgery 27 years experience
No: It is not a cancer treatment. Occasionally it may be needed during lung cancer treatment (as in some cases after lung resection) but it is a supportive treatment.
5.7k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
Last updated Nov 1, 2018
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