Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 July 2009
In the future, as at present, the internist will tap and look and listen on the outside of the chest…; the roentgenologist will continue to look through the patient; but in a continually increasing proportion of cases, the surgeon, the internist and the roentgenologist will ask the bronchoscopist to look inside the patient.
– Chevalier Jackson, MD 1928INTRODUCTION
Pulmonologists and surgeons are frequently called on to perform bronchoscopy on critically ill patients in the intensive care unit (ICU). The ease, safety, and portability of bronchoscopy make it one of the most commonly requested invasive procedures in the ICU setting. Flexible bronchoscopy (first fiber optic and now video) was introduced by Dr. Ikeda of Japan in the late 1960s and became more widely available in the mid to late 1970s. Now, with advances in technology allowing for greater portability, bronchoscopy has become ubiquitous in the modern hospital.
The ease of availability of bronchoscopy to intensivists has broadened the pulmonary diagnostic and therapeutic capabilities in critically ill patients, but like many technologies it also raises certain challenges in its appropriate application. Technology is not a substitute for good clinical judgment; operators must assess patient safety and perform procedures with attention to patient comfort and knowledge of potential complications and a management plan for complications including respiratory failure, pneumothorax, and so on.
In this chapter, I hope to outline the most common consultations and appropriate uses for bronchoscopy in the ICU.
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