Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2016 Nov 11:3:33324.
doi: 10.3402/ecrj.v3.33324. eCollection 2016.

Complications and discomfort of bronchoscopy: a systematic review

Elise Orvedal Leiten  1 , Einar Marius Hjellestad Martinsen  2 , Per Sigvald Bakke  2 , Tomas Mikal Lind Eagan  2   3 , Rune Grønseth  3
Affiliations
Review

Complications and discomfort of bronchoscopy: a systematic review

Elise Orvedal Leiten et al. Eur Clin Respir J. .

Abstract

Objective: To identify bronchoscopy-related complications and discomfort, meaningful complication rates, and predictors.

Method: We conducted a systematic literature search in PubMed on 8 February 2016, using a search strategy including the PICO model, on complications and discomfort related to bronchoscopy and related sampling techniques.

Results: The search yielded 1,707 hits, of which 45 publications were eligible for full review. Rates of mortality and severe complications were low. Other complications, for instance, hypoxaemia, bleeding, pneumothorax, and fever, were usually not related to patient characteristics or aspects of the procedure, and complication rates showed considerable ranges. Measures of patient discomfort differed considerably, and results were difficult to compare between different study populations.

Conclusion: More research on safety aspects of bronchoscopy is needed to conclude on complication rates and patient- and procedure-related predictors of complications and discomfort.

Keywords: adverse events; diagnostic bronchoscopy; informed consent; patient satisfaction; safety.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

and funding The authors have read and understood the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) policy on declaration of interests and declare the following interests: within the last 3 years, both EOL and EMHM have received a travel grant from GlaxoSmithKline; RG has received travel grants from the Norwegian Respiratory Society, a grant for the MicroCOPD study from GlaxoSmithKline, and speaker fees from AstraZeneca and Boehringer Ingelheim; TMLE has received travel grants from InterMune for the AIR conferences, a grant for the MicroILD study from Boehringer Ingelheim, and speaker fees from AstraZeneca and Boehringer Ingelheim; and PSB has acted as an advisory board member for Boehringer-Ingelheim, Mundipharma, AstraZeneca. This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

References

    1. Introduction to bronchoscopy. Cambridge University Press; 2009.
    1. Du Rand IA, Blaikley J, Booton R, Chaudhuri N, Gupta V, Khalid S, et al. British thoracic society guideline for diagnostic flexible bronchoscopy in adults: accredited by NICE. Thorax. 2013;68(Suppl 1):i1–44. - PubMed
    1. Wikipedia_contributors. PICO process: wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 2016. [updated 9 January 2016 13:56 UTC]. Available from: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=PICO_process&oldid=698981503 [cited 5 June 2016]
    1. Kanemoto K, Satoh H, Ishikawa H, Ishikawa S, Ohtsuka M, Sekizawa K. Prospective study of fever and pneumonia after flexible fiberoptic bronchoscopy in older people. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2006;54:827–30. - PubMed
    1. Elston WJ, Whittaker AJ, Khan LN, Flood-Page P, Ramsay C, Jeffery PK, et al. Safety of research bronchoscopy, biopsy and bronchoalveolar lavage in asthma. Eur Respir J. 2004;24:375–7. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources