Thoracic Surgery

The Department of Thoracic Surgery was one of the earliest-established key departments when Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital was founded, one of the first batch of standardized resident physician training centers in Zhejiang Province, and a doctoral degree-granting site in Surgery (Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery) at Zhejiang University. Over the years, the department has maintained long-term collaboration with Mayo Clinic and Loma Linda University in the United States, Monash Health and the Cabrini Health Group in Australia, and others; it has maintained academic exchanges and talent exchange with medical centers in the United States, Australia, Canada and many other countries. Today, the department has become a renowned center for the diagnosis and treatment of thoracic diseases in Zhejiang Province, with strong technical capabilities and a high level of recognition in China. The department has always strictly followed international diagnostic and treatment standards, provided appropriate treatment for every patient, and remained committed to providing patients with world-class, high-quality, comprehensive medical services.

Technical Advantages

The Department of Thoracic Surgery adheres to minimally invasive technology as its distinctive feature and has introduced the most advanced high-definition and 3D thoracoscopic equipment and the da Vinci robotic surgical system. It routinely performs thoracoscopic-assisted and robot-assisted anatomical lobectomies and segmentectomies, bronchoplasty and pulmonary angioplasty, mediastinal tumor resection, totally endoscopic esophagectomy for esophageal cancer (lvor-Lewis and McKeown procedures), resection of tumors at the cervicothoracic junction, and other procedures. In addition, led by the Department of Thoracic Surgery and jointly established with the Departments of Respiratory Medicine, Respiratory Therapy, Anesthesiology, Intensive Care, Rehabilitation and other disciplines, the Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital Lung Transplantation Center can routinely perform highly challenging procedures such as sequential bilateral lung transplantation and combined heart–lung transplantation. More than 6,000 operations of various types are completed each year, of which minimally invasive procedures account for more than 95%.

The Department of Thoracic Surgery is one of the first standardized resident physician training centers in Zhejiang Province. It is authorized to enroll doctoral and master's graduate students and undertakes the standardized training of doctoral and master's graduate students at the School of Medicine of Zhejiang University, as well as resident physicians from multiple lower-level hospitals. After nearly thirty years of continuous development, it has gradually become a thoracic disease diagnosis and treatment center integrating clinical care, scientific research and teaching, with a high level of recognition in China and Zhejiang Province.

Academic Status

Ministry of Health Specialized Resident Physician Training Base

Training Base for Enhanced Recovery After Surgery under the Chinese Thoracic Surgery ERAS Demonstration Project

Institution Authorized to Confer Master's and Doctoral Degrees in Surgery at Zhejiang University

Zhejiang Province Minimally Invasive Thoracic Surgery Training Base

Vice-Chair Institution of the Thoracic Surgery Branch of the Zhejiang Medical Association

Committee Member Institution of the Cardiothoracic Surgery Branch of the Chinese Medical Association

Standing Committee Member Institution of the Endoscopic Minimally Invasive Technology Branch of the China Medical Equipment Association

Chair Institution of the Specialty Committee of Tumor Nutrition of the Zhejiang Nutrition Society

Chair-Elect Institution of the Lung Cancer Prevention and Control Committee of the Zhejiang Preventive Medicine Association

Chair Institution of the Specialty Committee for Precision Medicine in the Early Diagnosis and Early Treatment of Lung Cancer of the Zhejiang Society of Mathematical Medicine

Research Achievements

The department has obtained 8 grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China, including 2 dual-appointment grants. Among these, it has undertaken 3 General Program projects of the National Natural Science Foundation of China, including dual-appointment projects, and 5 Young Scientists Fund projects of the National Natural Science Foundation of China; it has undertaken 1 key research and development project of Zhejiang Province, 1 project under Zhejiang Province’s “Vanguard” and “Leading Goose” R&D Breakthrough Program, and more than 10 projects of the Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation and provincial department-level projects. Since 2018, it has published nearly 50 papers in domestic and international academic journals, including ACS NANO, ACS Apllied Materials & Interfaces and Journal of Thoracic Disease, of which more than 30 have been indexed by SCI. The department is committed to academic research and talent development and regularly holds high-level international academic conferences and training courses. Its flagship forum, the Qianchao Thoracic Surgery Forum on Standardized Treatment of Thoracic Tumors, has already gained renown throughout China.