Final answer:
A thoracotomy is a surgical procedure involving an B. incision into the chest wall to access the thoracic cavity. It is distinct from other chest-related procedures and allows surgeons to operate on organs within the chest, such as the lungs, heart, and esophagus.
Step-by-step explanation:
A thoracotomy is a surgical procedure that involves making an B. incision into the chest wall to gain access to the thoracic organs, primarily the lungs.
This procedure is often necessary when one needs to perform surgery on the heart, lungs, esophagus, or other organs within the chest cavity.
It's important to differentiate a thoracotomy from other procedures such as the removal of a lobe of the lung (lobectomy), inserting a tube into the chest (chest tube insertion), or removing the chest wall (chest wall resection).
The lungs are housed within the thoracic cavity, which is protected by the rib cage and the intercostal muscles. The diaphragm, a skeletal muscle that is crucial for breathing, forms the bottom of this cavity.
Inside the lungs, the trachea bifurcates to form the right and left bronchi leading to increasingly smaller bronchioles and eventually the alveoli where gas exchange occurs.
Surrounding the lungs is a tissue layer called the pleura, which helps in reducing friction between the lungs and the thoracic cavity during respiration.