Safety precautions for bronchoscopic CO2 laser surgery

Certain safety precautions are necessary in the performance of CO2 laser bronchoscopy. These include special instrumentation and careful selection of patients. Assessment of tumor vascularity is mandatory because of the limited hemostasis provided by the CO2 laser. The x-ray film evaluation of the integrity of the tracheobronchial tree--for treatment that involves the palliation of obstructing malignant lesions--is outlined.