The Department of Thoracic Surgery at NINGBO MEDICAL CENTER LIHUILI HOSPITAL (Eastern Hospital Zone) , relocated from Xingning Hospital Zone in November 2015, is identified as the China Thoracic Surgery ERAS Demonstration Project Accelerated Recovery Surgery Demonstration Sub-Center and Zhejiang Provincial Lung Cancer Multidisciplinary Comprehensive Diagnosis and Treatment Network Support Platform, and one of the new round of Ningbo medical key support disciplines, stands at the forefront of Ningbo as a well-known specialty, and sponsors the setup of "Ningbo Clinical Medical Research Center for Chest Malignant Tumors", with an independent chest tumor lab.

The Department of Thoracic Surgery was the first thoracoscopic surgery operator in Ningbo in November 1995. In 2006, it was the first mediastinoscopy surgery operator in Ningbo, and in 2011, performed the first case of thoracoscopic sleeve resection of right upper lung cancer in Zhejiang Province. With two hospital zones in place, the department provides 80 beds and is equipped with UHD thoracoscopy equipment, 3D thoracoscopy, fluorescent thoracoscopy and other advanced equipment, and 3 operating rooms for thoracic surgery.

Backed by the immense technical strength, the Department of Thoracic Surgery covers all fields of diagnosis and treatment including lung cancer, esophageal tumor, mediastinal tumor, tracheal tumor, chest wall tumor, pneumothorax, palmar hyperhidrosis, and chest trauma treatment, and its operation capabilities stand at the forefront of Ningbo every year. Of all the surgical cases, thoracoscopic minimally invasive surgery accounts for a ratio over 90%, in which the minimally invasive total laparoscopic esophageal cancer radical surgery and combined therapy stand at the forefront of the city and province. The routine operations performed within the department include lung surgery (e.g.: various minimally invasive radical resection of lung cancer, collapsed lung, huge lung tumor and other complex operations), esophageal cancer surgery (e.g.: minimally invasive radical resection of esophageal cancer and incisional esophageal surgeries), mediastinal tumor resection (e.g.: extended resection of malignant thymoma, superior vena cava replacement surgery and other mediastinal tumor resections), as well as tracheal tumor resection, total carina resection and carina reconstructive surgery. In addition, the hospital has proven clinical experience in the rescue treatment of severe chest traumas such as trachea, bronchi rupture, amputation; flail chest, traumatic asphyxia.

The Department of Thoracic Surgery has developed a specialty with the brand identity of minimally invasive thoracoscopic surgery, making it the department with the most performed minimally invasive esophageal cancer resection in Ningbo. In addition, the Multi-disciplinary Team (MDT) formed by the Department of Thoracic Surgery, in collaboration with the specialists from the Department of Respiratory Medicine, Radiation Oncology, and Imaging, worked closely and modified the treatment protocols for patients, and improved the patient's diagnosis and treatment. In the past five years, the department has performed over 6,000 operations with an annual operation volume of more than 2,000 cases, in which the average annual operation volume for esophageal cancer exceeds 100 cases. According to the statistics from Zhejiang DRGs platform, the number of esophageal cancer surgeries and lung cancer surgeries ranked the sixth place among 29 Grade III Level A hospitals in 2019 and 2020.

Backed by the immense strength in scientific researches, the department undertook a number of provincial and municipal scientific research projects and multi-center clinical researches. In particular, Director Shen Weiyu was appointed as the presiding person for one major special project of "Ningbo Science and Technology Innovation 2025". In 2021, the Department of Thoracic Surgery at NINGBO MEDICAL CENTER LIHUILI HOSPITAL sponsored the setup of "Ningbo Clinical Medical Research Center for Thoracic Malignant Tumors", with the subsidies of RMB 5 million granted. The main research interests include the onset and development mechanism of thoracic tumors; the precise treatment of thoracic tumors; the precise and minimally invasive treatment of thoracic tumors and perioperative management.