Missouri Delta Medical Center celebrates surgical milestone

scottw@standard-democrat.com

SIKESTON -- The success of the first ever video-assisted thoracoscopic lung surgery at Missouri Delta Medical Center could mean a lot less pain in the future.

On Sept. 8, Dr. Paul Montany, a board-certified general surgeon at MDMC specializing in both thoracic and vascular surgery, performed a VATS lobectomy at the hospital.

"It is a procedure using advanced minimally invasive techniques to remove a lobe of the lung," Montany said. Other places have seen success with this procedure for only a few years now, Montany said.

"Now, so are we," Montany said. "This is a milestone in thoracic surgery."

"I've had surgeries but nothing like this," said the patient, Mary Morrow of Diehlstadt. "Tennis elbow, cataracts, gall bladder. But this was cancer. That made it different."

Morrow said she was actually getting an X-ray during a checkup to clear her for a surgical operation to correct a "trigger finger" when the mass in her right lung was identified as something that needed immediate attention, leading to a referral to Montany.

"It turned out to be primary melanoma of the lung. It's pretty rare," Montany said.

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