Bronchoscopy in small animal medicine: indications, instrumentation, and techniques

Bronchoscopy is a useful tool in the evaluation and management of canine and feline respiratory diseases. Diagnostic indications include the evaluation of structural diseases (tracheobronchial collapse, stricture, intraluminal mass); inflammatory conditions (chronic bronchitis, pneumonia); and traumatic injuries. Several airway-sampling techniques are available with bronchoscopy; bronchoalveolar lavage has proved to be the most satisfactory specimen-collection technique. Therapeutic indications of bronchoscopy at this time in veterinary medicine are mainly limited to foreign body removal. As advances are made in veterinary bronchopulmonary medicine, other therapeutic applications of the bronchoscope may be realized.