Background: Flexible
bronchoscopy is a useful diagnostic tool with a relative low rate of
complications .
Aim: To analyze post
procedure risk of
complications after flexible
bronchoscopy with transbronchial or bronchial
biopsy . Material and
Methods: The
electronic database of a
bronchoscopy unit at a
general Hospital was analyzed. All
procedures performed between 2009 and 2011 were reviewed and
complications recorded. The primary
outcome measure was the
risk for
complications de fined as the percentage of
procedures complicated by
hemorrhage ,
pneumothorax , desaturation < 80% and other
complications . We used a
logistic regression model to explore the
association between each
procedure characteristic and complication.
Results: One thousand seventy nine
procedures were included in the
analysis . Eight percent had
complications . Among these, the frequency of
hemorrhage was 5.9% and
pneumothorax was 0.3%. Factors associated with
complications were exclusive use of topical
anesthesia with an
odds ratio (OR) of 1.72 (
confidence intervals (CI) 1.04-2.86), regular or bad intolerance to the
procedure with an OR 4.70 (CI 3.00-7.38) and performing
biopsies of the upper lobes with an OR of 1.76 (CI 1.04-2.97).
Conclusions: Exclusive use of topical
anesthesia , performing
biopsies of the upper lobes and
procedure tolerance were
risk factors associated with
complications following bronchoscopic
biopsies .