Thoracic services

An introduction to the service

The Golden Jubilee National Hospital’s thoracic surgery department is the largest chest surgery unit in Scotland and one of the largest in the UK and Ireland*.

The type of surgery the thoracic department carries out covers all aspects of non-cardiac chest surgery, this includes surgery for:

Primary lung cancer or secondary cancerous growth affecting the lung (known as metastases).
Mesothelioma – disease of the lung lining (pleura), which is linked to asbestos exposure.
Tumours of the chest including mediastinal (middle of the chest).
Gullet (oesophageal) cancers.
Hiatus hernias.
Benign conditions affecting the gullet such as achalasia and reflux oesopahgitis.
Chest wall growths.
The diagnosis and management of fluid collections around the lung (pleural effusions) or heart (pericardial effusions).

The thoracic team also work with patients with conditions that may require chest surgery as part of their treatment, including:

chest wall deformities such as a ‘hollowed’ chest (pectus excavatum).
serious chest cavity infection(empyema).
emphysema.
lung collapse (pneumothorax).
a condition affecting the nervous system known as ‘myasthenia gravis.

The thoracic pages of this website aim to provide a brief introduction to our department and its services but do not give medical advice. If you need medical advice you should consult your doctor in the first instance.

A list of useful websites is also available on the links page of our website.

*data from the 2008-2009 Thoracic Surgery Activity Report, Society for Cardiothoracic Surgery.