Hague hospital first in Netherlands to use laser technique for lung surgery

The HagaZiekenhuis in The Hague is the first hospital in the Netherlands to use a new laser technique for lung surgery. Instead of cutting away part of the lungs, doctors use a much more precise laser to remove tumors. And that has enormous benefits for patients, lung surgeon Pieter Jan van Huijstee told RTL Nieuws.

The equipment comes from Germany, where it is already used in dozens of clinics. “With this laser, we can work much more precisely than with other techniques,” Van Huijstee said. That means patients experience less pain, recover faster, and are left with more lung tissue.

It is especially the last benefit that is important, Van Huijstee said. “When cutting away a small tumor, a lot of lung tissue normally disappears. This laser is very precise,” he said.

For lung cancer patients, that could mean that metastases are no longer necessarily a death sentence. Those who could not be helped before, because they already lost too much lung tissue in previous surgeries, have a chance with the new laser.

With the new technique, the tumor is cut away along the edges with three incisions using a laparoscopy. “One laser cuts, a second laser burns the lung tissue shut again immediately,” Van Huijstee said.