SC Sit, QU Lee, YW Hui, MC Chiu

Abstract

Objective: To review the results of bronchoscopy of patients presenting with persistent stridor and refractory wheezing and to find out the diagnostic yield and complication rate of this procedure. Methods: It is a retrospective review. Information of the individual patients, findings, complications and laboratory results of the bronchoscopies were retrieved from the log book and hospital records for analysis. Results: Forty-four patient records were analysed. All patients presented with persistent stridor (n=32) had pathologies identified and 6 out of 12 patients (50%) with persistent or recurrent wheezing had lesions detected in their airways by bronchoscopy. Patients with underlying diseases were more likely to have abnormalities found (p<0.05). There was no fatalities in our series. Transient desaturation was the most common complication and was encountered in 19 patients. Patients less than 1 year had a significantly higher risk of desaturation (p=0.006, OR=5.95). Conclusions: Our study results showed that bronchoscopy is a safe and useful clinical tool for investigation of patients with persistent stridor or refractory wheezing. We recommend routine administration of supplementary oxygen to young patients during bronchoscopy to prevent transient desaturation.