Thoracic surgery is the branch of medicine involving surgery to cure diseases of the respiratory organs. These are the organs in the chest other than the heart and the esophagus, including the lungs, trachea, bronchial tubes, mediastinum, chest wall, and diaphragm. Any findings such as a lung shadow in an X-ray image or symptoms such as chest pain, shortness of breath and difficulty breathing, excessive coughing and sputum, or bloody sputum may indicate the possibility of a disease related to thoracic surgery.

The main diseases or conditions treated through thoracic surgery are malignant lung tumors including primary malignant tumors of the lung (lung cancer) and metastatic lung tumors, benign lung tumors, mediastinal diseases including mediastinal tumors (particularly thymoma), myasthenia gravis, and neurogenic tumors, diseases of the chest wall or pleura including chest wall tumors and pleural mesothelioma, emphysematous lung diseases, including pneumothorax, cystic lung disease, and pulmonary emphysema, inflammatory diseases including pyothorax and suppurative disease of the lung, congenital pulmonary arteriovenous fistula, and thoracic injury. Among these, primary malignant lung tumor (lung cancer) is the most common disease treated by thoracic surgery.

Lung cancer, metastatic lung tumor, benign lung tumor, mediastinal tumor, thymoma, myasthenia gravis, neurogenic tumor, pleural mesothelioma, chest wall tumor, pneumothorax, cystic lung disease, pulmonary emphysema, pyothorax, suppurative disease of the lung, congenital pulmonary arteriovenous fistula, thoracic injury