Why would removing part of my lungs help my emphysema?

Maybe: Lung volume reduction surgery or lvrs is for patients with chronic emphysema. Emphysema is loss of the elasticity of the lung tissue, with ballooning or air trapping. Lvrs removes the bad lung tissue, and allows the good lung tissue to take over. Lvrs can be life saving in patients with poor function and emphysema in the upper part of the lung. Lvrs is now performed minimally invasively.

Changes mechanics: Removing parts of the lung for emphysema changes the way the lungs sit in the chest wall. The surgeons usually remove those parts of the lung that are not functioning anymore from the destruction of emphysema. For some patients, this helps the lungs work better. But: this is a big surgery with potentially life threatening complications. You need to talk to a specialist in this procedure to discuss.