Information for Patients

Paralyzed diaphragm

The Diaphragm Center is dedicated to all patients suffering from severe shortness of breath due to a paralyzed diaphragm.

Referral

To be eligible for treatment at the Diaphragm Center, a referral from a medical specialist, preferably your pulmonologist, is required. Your medical specialist sends the referral to the Diaphragm Center for assessment. The review is completely non-binding; there is no charge for this.

Intake
  • After your referral has been evaluated and approved, you will be called in for an intake interview at the Diaphragm Center.
  • With this call, you will receive all the information you need for the intake interview.
  • The costs for the intake interview can be found in the information you receive in advance.
  • During this intake, Dr. Welvaart will review all your information again, discuss your symptoms with you, and the options for relieving your shortness of breath.
  • The surgery and its associated risks of complications are discussed step by step. Unfortunately, every surgery comes with the risk of complications; there are no surgeries without potential complications.
Decision

It’s important for you to understand how the surgery works and what the consequences are for you after the surgery, so you can make an informed decision about whether or not you want to undergo surgery.

Waiting list

Unfortunately, there is a waiting list for this surgical method. The length of the waiting list depends on various factors, such as available capacity in the operating rooms at various hospitals in the Netherlands.

The waiting list for this special surgery has been growing longer, and the COVID pandemic has extended the waiting list even further, prompting the search for a method to operate on patients more quickly.

Solution

The establishment of the Diaphragm Center as an independent institute is the solution. You will have surgery at your own hospital, if there are options for that. If this is not possible, your referring physician will work with the Middle Rhine Center to find an appropriate solution and possibly use available operating room capacity at another hospital.

By reducing his workload at the Meander Medical Center, Dr. Welvaart can now treat you sooner, throughout the country.

Care process

After you have attended the intake interview at the Diaphragm Center and the surgery has been scheduled, you will be placed on the waiting list. Thus, the surgeries can take place throughout the Netherlands. The same arrangements apply to patients from abroad.

We strive to treat you in your own region. If there is earlier surgical capacity in another region, travel there.

Within Surgical Holland, this is a new way of working that will hopefully ensure that you are treated as soon as possible.

Diaphragm Center

For treatment of paralyzed diaphragm