Fiberoptic bronchoscopy for diagnosis and treatment.

Bedside fiberoptic bronchoscopy is a valuable tool in the diagnosis and treatment of various respiratory conditions in critically ill patients. The fiberoptic bronchoscope allows direct airway inspection, facilitating the diagnosis of benign and malignant airway lesions. In addition, pulmonary secretions or tissue samples can be collected using the bronchoscope and techniques that allow sampling of the lower airways with minimal or no upper airway contamination. Collection of lower airway samples is important in the diagnosis of pulmonary infiltrates in immunocompromised patients, in many patients with ventilator-associated pneumonia, and in selected patients with CAP. The fiberoptic bronchoscope can be used for therapeutic interventions, such as insertion of an endotracheal tube, removal of an aspirated foreign body, clearance of tenacious secretions, promotion of hemostasis in patients with hemoptysis, instillation of drugs, and assistance in the placement of tracheobronchial prostheses (i.e., airway stents). If proper preprocedural training and planning are done and the patient is monitored carefully during the procedure, fiberoptic bronchoscopy can be performed quickly and safely at the bedside in most critically ill patients.