Introduction

This information is for people who have chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). It looks at lung transplant surgery, which is sometimes used as a treatment for severe COPD.

We haven't looked at the research on lung transplant surgery in the same detail we have for the other treatments we cover. (To read more, see Our method.) But we've included some information in case you're interested.

What are they?

During a lung transplant operation, surgeons take out one damaged lung and replace it with a healthy lung from a donor. The tissue in the donor lung needs to match the tissue in the person who gets the new lung. It can be hard to find a good match.

Lung transplant operations are only recommended for people with very severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). This kind of surgery might be used to try to help someone who has given up smoking and who might not live more than a few years without this operation.

Can they be harmful?

There are risks with any operation, including this one. For example, you might have breathing problems and bleeding during surgery.

If you have a lung transplant, you will need to take drugs for the rest of your life to keep your body from rejecting the new lung. These drugs are called immunosuppressants. They have serious side effects.

Glossary

immunosuppressants

Immunosuppressants are medicines that reduce your body's natural immune response. You're given these medicines if you've had an organ transplant, so your immune system doesn't react to your new organ and attack it. But immunosuppressants can also put you at risk of some types of cancer, such as squamous cell skin cancer.

For more terms related to Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Citations