Bronchoscopy

This procedure (of looking down the air passages) is preferably done under general anesthetic but can be done using local anesthetic to the throat and the airways. The flexible bronchoscope is passed through the mouth into the windpipe and into the branches which subdivide in the right and the left sides. Saline solution is injected into the air passages and sucked back into a trap bottle. This sample is then sent to the lab for cytology (ie. looking for cancer cells).

If a biopsy needs to be taken, biopsy forceps can be accurately positioned on the abnormality to take a pinch, and sometimes a brush is used for brushing surface cells of an abnormal area for cytology. If a deeper biopsy is required, then using the X ray machine while the bronchoscope is down the airways allows the accurate positioning of the biopsy forceps at the lung shadow and this allows for biopsies to be taken. This is not always possible but depends on the location of the lung shadow.