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. 2021 Apr 26;29(2):183-190.
doi: 10.5606/tgkdc.dergisi.2021.20351. eCollection 2021 Apr.

Bronchoscopy during the COVID-19 pandemic: A survey study

Benan Çağlayan  1 , Ferhan Karataş  1 , Sinem İliaz  1 , Işıl Uzel  1 , Ayşe Bilge Öztürk  1 , Tuane Demir  1
Affiliations

Bronchoscopy during the COVID-19 pandemic: A survey study

Benan Çağlayan et al. Turk Gogus Kalp Damar Cerrahisi Derg. .

Abstract

Background: In this study, we aimed to evaluate the attitudes and behaviors of physicians performing bronchoscopy during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Methods: Between March 2020 and May 2020, a total of 153 physicians were included in the study. An invitation letter for the participation in the study with a structured questionnaire of 18 questions were sent to the mail groups twice with five-day intervals. Participation in the study was allowed, until the third day after the second mail was sent.

Results: All participants completed the questionnaire. According to the results, 33% of the physicians did not perform bronchoscopy and the majority of the physicians performed very few procedures during the outbreak, although the participants mostly worked at the tertiary hospitals (mean: 7.2±9.3). A total of 20% of the physicians performed bronchoscopy in potential or proven COVID-19 patients. Almost all of the physicians who participated in the survey reported the use of personal protective equipment such as masks and goggles during the procedure. During the pandemic, 9.7% of the physicians who performed bronchoscopy to potential or proven COVID-19 patients and 4.1% of the participants who did not perform bronchoscopy to any potential or proven COVID-19 patients were found to be infected with the virus (p>0.05).

Conclusion: Physicians who perform bronchoscopy during pandemic act in accordance with the recommendations of guidelines. Although there was no statistically significant difference between the SARS-CoV-2 transmission rates of the teams who performed and did not perform bronchoscopy in potential or proven COVID-19 patients in our study, the high rate of personal protective equipment utilization might have played a role in this result.

Keywords: Bronchoscopy; COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; endobronchial ultrasound; outbreak.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest: The authors declared no conflicts of interest with respect to the authorship and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Indications of bronchoscopy during pandemic.
COVID-19: Coronavirus 2019.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Distribution of number of bronchoscopies performed during pandemic.
Figure 3
Figure 3. Screening methods for COVID-19 before procedure.
RT: Reverse transcriptase; DNA: Deoxyribonucleic acid; PCR: Polymerase chain reaction; CT: Computed tomography; COVID-19: Coronavirus 2019.
Appendix 1
Appendix 1
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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