Routine Chest Radiography for the Evaluation of Pneumothorax Following Bronchoscopy

To determine the utility of routine postbronchoscopy chest radiography to detect pneumothorax.

This retrospective quality improvement cohort study was approved by the Institutional Review Board. All outpatients (n = 1443) who underwent protocol-driven postbronchoscopy chest radiography in one health system from January 2010 to July 2017 were identified by electronic medical record query. The prevalence of pneumothorax (with 95% confidence intervals [CI]) and clinical outcome were determined following coded review of chest radiography reports and review of the electronic medical record. The effect of smoking and lung disease on risk of pneumothorax was determined with Chi Square tests.

Of 1443 subjects undergoing interventional bronchoscopy, 6% (93/1443) were current smokers, 35% (505/1442) were former smokers, and 35% (540/1443) had known lung disease. Pneumothorax prevalence was 3.4% (49/1443; 95% CI: 2.6%-4.5%) following any intervention and 4.1% (42/1032; 95% CI: 3.9%-5.5%) following transbronchial intervention. In those without known pre-existing pneumothorax or a confirmed false positive diagnosis, the real overall pneumothorax rate was 2.9% (42/1443; 95% CI: 2.1%-3.9%). The risk of pneumothorax did not differ based on smoking history (p = 0.99) or history of lung disease (p = 0.19). Of 49 subjects with pneumothorax, 13 were symptomatic, and 10 had a change in management including chest tube placement (N = 2), inpatient admission (N = 3), and/or observation (N = 7). No pneumothorax-related intervention was performed in asymptomatic patients.

Pneumothorax following interventional outpatient bronchoscopy is uncommon, usually asymptomatic, and often clinically insignificant. Asymptomatic postbronchoscopy patients are very low risk and may not need routine imaging.