Safety of pulmonary function testing: data from 20 years

Area of Science:

• Pulmonary Medicine
• Patient Safety
• Respiratory Diagnostics

Background:

• Pulmonary function testing (PFT) is crucial for diagnosing respiratory conditions.
• Limited data existed on the safety of routine and specialized PFT.
• This study analyzed patient safety incident (PSI) records to assess PFT risks.

Discussion:

• The study reviewed 186,000 PFTs from 1996-2016.
• Identified 119 PSIs, a rate of 0.6 per 1000 tests.
• Cardiopulmonary events were more frequent than non-cardiopulmonary ones.

Key Insights:

• Syncope was the most common cardiopulmonary PSI.
• Cardiopulmonary exercise testing had 2 PSIs per 1000 tests.
• Hospital admissions occurred rarely, approximately 1 in 10,000 tests, with no mortality.

Outlook:

• PFTs are safe when conducted with preparticipation guidelines.
• Identified common PSIs can guide risk reduction strategies.
• Further research can refine safety protocols for PFT.