pulmonary disorders
Bronchoscopy
Complications of Bronchoscopy
Serious complications are uncommon; minor bleeding from a biopsy site, fever occurs in 10 to 15% of patients ( References ). Patients may have an increase in cough after bronchoalveolar lavage. Rarely, topical anesthesia causes laryngospasm, bronchospasm, seizures, or cardiac arrhythmias or arrest. Bronchoscopy itself may cause Overview of Arrhythmias (most commonly premature atrial contractions, ventricular premature beats, or bradycardia) Hypoxemia in patients with compromised gas exchange Minor laryngeal edema or injury with hoarseness Transmission of infection from suboptimally sterilized equipment (very rare) Mortality is 1 to 4/10,000 patients ( References ). Older adults and patients with serious comorbidities (eg, severe Transbronchial biopsy can cause pneumothorax (2 to 5%), significant hemorrhage (1 to 3.0%), but doing the procedure can often avoid the need for Thoracotomy ( 