Decortication is a medical procedure involving the surgical removal of the surface layer, membrane, or fibrous cover of an organ.
In a non-medical aspect, decortication is the removal of the bark, husk, or outer layer, or peel of an object.
Since the early '90s this procedure has increasingly been performed using more minimally invasive thoracoscopy.
In some lung-disease patients, the lung will not expand after removal of the pleural peel, rendering the surgery futile.
Other diseases that render decortication futile are narrowing of the large airway stenosis and uncontrolled pleural infection.