A lobectomy is lung surgery that removes one or more lobes of a lung, according to the U.S. National Library of Medicine’s MedlinePlus. It is one of several lung operations, alongside a wedge resection, which removes only part of a lobe, and a pneumonectomy, which removes an entire lung; a common reason for it is to remove lung cancer. Surgeons can do it through open surgery (a thoracotomy, a cut between the ribs) or through video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS), which uses a small camera and tools passed through several small cuts and typically means less pain and a faster recovery.
The term was in the news after Pope Leo XIV, 71, underwent surgery at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital on October 13, 2026, in which surgeons removed the lower lobe of his right lung using a video-assisted technique; the Vatican said testing during the operation confirmed lung adenocarcinoma and that there were no complications.
Source: MedlinePlus, “Lung surgery”.
Image: Diagram of the human lungs and airways. Credit: Patrick J. Lynch, medical illustrator, CC BY 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons.