Marco Scarci

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Marco Scarci page of Mr Marco Scarci Consultant Thoracic Surgeon I will always prioritise your well-being throughout your treatment.

As a consultant thoracic surgeon in London, I focus on providing patients with the highest quality care, including cancer treatment. My practice emphasises minimally invasive techniques, particularly in lung cancer, pneumothorax and chest wall procedures. I understand the stress associated with needing a thoracic surgeon, so I ensure transparency, reliability, and a patient-focused approach. What sets me apart is my dedication to providing tailored treatments, including those that are minimally invasive. Contact my office today to schedule a consultation.

Sharp pain under your ribs and every test comes back normal? It could be slipping rib syndrome.I'm a thoracic surgeon in...
11/10/2026

Sharp pain under your ribs and every test comes back normal? It could be slipping rib syndrome.

I'm a thoracic surgeon in London, and a large part of my work is on the chest wall. This is a condition patients often wait a long time to have named, usually after being investigated for stomach or gallbladder problems.

Swipe for what actually slips, why routine scans tend to miss it, the simple test I use in clinic, and the treatment options.

Save this for anyone still looking for an answer to their rib pain.

General information, not personal medical advice.

07/10/2026

Broken ribs and told nothing can be done? For some rib fractures, surgery is worth asking about, and timing matters.

For anyone in hospital with multiple broken ribs, or the family sitting beside them.
Send this to someone who has been told to just wait it out.

General information, not personal medical advice.

Broken a rib and been told nothing can be done? That's rarely the whole story.As a thoracic surgeon in London, I treat b...
04/10/2026

Broken a rib and been told nothing can be done? That's rarely the whole story.

As a thoracic surgeon in London, I treat broken ribs every week. Most heal on their own, but "nothing can be done" is rarely true.

Every breath moves the fracture, so people breathe shallowly and stop coughing. That's how a broken rib turns into pneumonia, especially in older people.

Swipe for what helps, the one thing to avoid, and when surgery changes the outcome. Caring for someone after a fall? Send this to them.

01/10/2026

The old body retold the Reel line by line, so nobody had a reason to watch. This version says who it is for and what they will find out, and leaves the answers in the video. About 1,150 characters with the 5 default hashtags added (IG limit is 2,200). First line is 109 characters, so it shows in full before "more" cuts in.

Paralysed diaphragm? You may not need surgery. Here's how to know when diaphragm plication is the right call.

"Do I need an operation?" is the first thing most of my patients ask. The honest answer depends on three things: how it was found, what happened to the phrenic nerve, and how long you have been breathless.

In this Reel I cover:

- When it is safe to leave a paralysed diaphragm alone
- Why some people are told to wait, and how long that wait usually lasts
- The point where plication becomes the answer for most people
- What the operation actually does (it is not what most people expect)
- Keyhole surgery recovery time, and the risks I go through in clinic

If you are a year on, still breathless and still sleeping sitting up, this one is worth saving.

Missed Part 1? It explains what a paralysed diaphragm is and why it happens. You will find it on my profile.

Recovery and results vary from person to person. This is general information, not personal medical advice.

Considering diaphragm plication? Book a consultation through the link in bio.

Ever wonder why lying flat suddenly leaves you breathless? Your diaphragm is the main muscle of breathing, working rough...
28/09/2026

Ever wonder why lying flat suddenly leaves you breathless? Your diaphragm is the main muscle of breathing, working roughly 20,000 times a day without you noticing it. It's actually two separate halves, each controlled by its own nerve. When one side stops working, it doesn't just sit still, it goes slack, letting the organs beneath it push up into the chest. That's why lying down, bending forward, or climbing stairs suddenly feel so much harder.

The good news: a paralyzed diaphragm isn't always a surgery conversation. Sometimes the nerve was only bruised and recovers on its own over 12 to 18 months. When surgery is the right call, an operation called plication tightens the loose muscle back into shape, and the improvement is usually fast and lasting.

Swipe through for how we confirm it, and what the fix actually involves. Save this for later or send it to someone who's been told the same thing.

25/09/2026

Breathless when you lie flat or bend down to tie your shoes? A paralysed diaphragm could be the reason.

The diaphragm is your main breathing muscle, a dome that sits under the lungs and separates your chest from your abdomen. Each half has its own nerve, the phrenic nerve, which runs from the neck down through the chest.

When that nerve is injured, one side of the diaphragm stops working properly. It can happen after heart or chest surgery, after a virus or an accident, or because something in the chest is pressing on the nerve, which we always check for. In a large number of people, we never find a cause.

Often the first clue is a routine chest X-ray showing one side of the diaphragm sitting much higher than the other, usually reported as a raised or elevated hemidiaphragm. To confirm it is paralysed and not just raised, I use a sniff test, an ultrasound, and breathing tests done sitting up and lying flat. Those results tell me how much treatment is likely to help.

[DISCLAIMER: suggest a short line that this is general information, not personal medical advice]

Save this if you or someone you know has been told their diaphragm is raised. Part two, on treatment, is up next.

03/09/2026

What actually stops a collapsed lung from collapsing again? Not a chest drain. Here is the surgery for recurrent pneumothorax, explained by a thoracic surgeon.

WHY A LUNG KEEPS COLLAPSING?

Small air filled pockets called blebs or bullae sit at the very top of the lung. They look like bubble wrap. When one of them bursts, air leaks into the pleural space between the lung and the chest wall, and the lung collapses.

WHY A CHEST DRAIN IS NOT THE END OF IT?

A chest drain re-expands the lung and treats the episode you are in. It does nothing about the blebs that caused it. That is why a spontaneous pneumothorax can come back, again and again.

THE TWO PART OPERATION -

1) Bullectomy. The diseased top of the lung, where the air leak starts, is removed.

2) Pleurodesis. The lung is stuck to the inside of the chest wall, closing off the space where air can collect.

Both are usually done through keyhole surgery, or VATS, in a single operation.

WHO IT IS ACTUALLY FOR?

Not every pneumothorax needs surgery. It is generally considered after repeated episodes, or after a first episode in someone whose work makes another one dangerous. This patient flies for a living, which changed the whole calculation.

Save this if your lung has collapsed before, or send it to someone sitting in a hospital bed waiting on this decision.



[DISCLAIMER: Educational content only. Ask your physician for more information.]

A good surgeon should say yes to every operation you ask for. I do not believe that.As a thoracic surgeon in London, the...
28/08/2026

A good surgeon should say yes to every operation you ask for. I do not believe that.
As a thoracic surgeon in London, the hardest part of my job isn't agreeing to operate. It's knowing when to say no, even when a patient is asking for surgery straight away.

I don't operate to bypass a proper multidisciplinary discussion. I don't operate because a friend, a neighbour, or Google made the diagnosis. And I won't discharge you early to save money if I believe you genuinely need more time in hospital.

Swipe through for all 4 reasons I'll say no, and what you get when I say yes: daily reviews from me or my team, and a real person answering my emergency line, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

If you're currently comparing thoracic surgeons in London, save this post. It's worth knowing what "no" sounds like, before you need to hear it.

[DISCLAIMER: general information about how consultations and decisions are made, not personal medical advice]

20/08/2026

The operation in your head is not the operation we actually do.

If you've been told you need surgery for a lung nodule, it almost certainly is not the operation you are picturing.

Most nodules today are removed by keyhole surgery, also called VATS: one small cut, a camera, or robotic assistance for even finer precision. Open chest surgery, the version most people picture, is now the exception rather than the rule.

Depending on what we find, that might mean taking out a small wedge of lung tissue, a segment, or occasionally a full lobe. The nodule is often checked by the pathologist while you are still asleep, so everything, diagnosis and treatment, is dealt with in a single operation.

Your lungs have spare capacity. For most people, removing a small portion makes little real difference to day to day breathing, and recovery tends to be faster than people expect.

Here is the part that matters most. When lung cancer is caught at the nodule stage, before it has spread, surgery offers a genuinely high chance of cure. That is the whole point of taking a nodule seriously and not ignoring a scan result out of fear.

[DISCLAIMER: general information, not personal medical advice]

17/08/2026

Is a lung nodule on your CT scan cancer? Here's the honest answer: in most cases, no single scan can tell you for certain. What we can do is build up a picture.

We look at size (bigger needs more attention), shape and edges (small, calcified nodules are usually benign, while irregular or spiky edges earn more scrutiny), and density (solid vs ground glass). Then we factor in you: age, smoking history, family history, and any previous cancer.

But the most powerful test of all is time. Benign nodules stay the same year after year, so for many small nodules the right next step is a follow-up CT scan a few months later.

I know "we'll rescan you in three months" can sound like being fobbed off. It isn't. Surveillance is an active, evidence-based plan, the safest, most accurate test we have for small nodules. Every year it spares thousands of people an operation they never needed.

If this helped, save it, you might need it one day.

Address

Cromwell Hospital, 164-178 Cromwell Road
London
SW50TU

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm

Telephone

+442034689530

Website

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