Thoracic Surgical Techniques

Priniciples of Thoracic Surgery.- Fundamentals of Open and VATS surgery.- Bronchoscopy.- Simple Thoracoscopy.- Percutaneous Tracheostomy.- Chest Drains.- Chest wall anatomy.- Posterolateral Thoracotomy.- Anterolateral Thoracotomy.- Anterior Thoracotomy.- Median Sternotomy.- Axillary Thoracotomy.- Modified Ravitch operation Pectus Excavatum.- Nuss Procedure for Pectus Excavatum.- Pectus carinatum.- Chest wall tumours.- Excision of first rib for thoracic oulet syndrome.- Thoracoplasty.- Rib resection for empyema.- Cervicothoracic sympathectomy.- Surgical Anatomy of the trachea.- Tracheostomy.- Specific resections of trachea or carina.- Lung biopsies.- Operations For Spontaneous Pneumothorax.- Surgical Treatment Of Bullous Disease Of The Lung.- Right Pneumonectomy.- Right Intrapericardial Pneumonectomy.- Left Pneumonectomy.- Left Intrapericardial Pneumonectomy.- Right Upper Lobectomy.- Middle Lobectomy.- Middle And Right Lower Lobectomy.- Right Lower Lobectomy.- Left Upper Lobectomy.- Left Lower Lobectomy.- Upper Lobectomy With Sleeve Resection Of The Main Bronchus.- Chest Wall Excision In Combination With Pulmonary Resection.- Segmental Resection.- Excision Of Empyema And Decortication Of The Lung.- Early Post-Pneumonectomy Bronchopleural Fistula.- Late Post-Pneumonectomy Bronchopleural Fistula.- Closure of post pneumonectomy space.- Anatomy Of The Mediastinum.- Mediastinoscopy & Endoscopic Biopsy.- Anterior Mediastinotomy.- Thymectomy.- Excision Of Mediastinal Neurogenic Tumour.- Excision Of Other Mediastinal Cysts And Tumours.- Intrathoracic Goitre.- Pericardial Drainage.  

Mr Coonar has been a consultant at Papworth since 2007 and his practice is in pure thoracic surgery. He works closely with a large team including other surgeons, specialist nurses, radiologists and physicians. Mr Coonar was appointed President of the Royal Society of Medicine Cardiothoracic Section in December 2013.

He handles benign diseases and cancer. His main clinical interests are minimally invasive surgery (video-assisted, endoscopic and others), lung cancer surgery (including advanced cases and patients with poor lung function), mesothelioma surgery, chest wall surgery, airway surgery, lung volume reduction surgery, surgery for thoracic sarcoma and resection of metastatic cancer to the chest.

Initially trained in London and the United States, Mr Wells has worked at Papworth Hospital as a consultant cardiothoracic surgeon since 1986. His specialist area of cardiac surgical interest is the management of all forms of heart valve disease, especially mitral valve reconstruction.

Mr Wells has the largest experience in the United Kingdom and among the largest in the world with over 3,000 cases completed achieving a near 100% repair rate for leaking mitral valves with mortality at less than 1.0% for first time procedures. His aim is to achieve a normally functioning valve. He also has an interest in aortic valve repair and surgery of the aorta.



In his thoracic practice, Mr Wells offers a full range of surgical procedures for lung cancer and all benign diseases in the chest. This includes hyperhydrosis, thoracic outlet syndrome and pectus deformities.

"This is a comprehensive review of common thoracic surgical procedures including some rarely performed in general practice. This is a welcome and extensively revised second edition of the original 1990 publication. ... This is a superb reference for practicing surgeons or an instruction resource for trainees and students interested in the field of thoracic surgery. The authors are established professors of surgery dedicated to the practice and teaching of thoracic surgery." (Michael Bates, Doody's Book Reviews, February, 2019)