Bronchoscopy improves short-term imaging improvement in segmental/lobar pneumonia: A single-center retrospective...

To explore the potential therapeutic advantages of bronchoscopy in children diagnosed with segmental/lobar pneumonia, particularly in the perspective of imaging recovery.

The subjects were categorized into two groups based on whether or not underwent bronchoscopy procedures during their hospitalization: the medical treatment group and the bronchoscopy group. Health and economic indicators of both groups including pathogens, imaging characteristics, and treatment effects, were evaluated to accurately study the function of bronchoscopy on the recovery of segmental/lobar pneumonia lesions.

Based on a comprehensive statistical analysis conducted both before and after propensity score matching (PSM), the bronchoscopy group exhibited a significantly higher rate of imaging improvement one month after discharge (P < 0.05). In the bronchoscopy group, the pathogenic findings of this study indicated that the positivity rate of pathogen detection from routine testing combined with bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) pathogen testing was 75.1 %, surpassing the 68.8 % positivity rate of routine pathogen testing alone (P < 0.001). And in the bronchoscopy group which underwent bronchoscopy exhibited the six mucosal manifestations. The multivariate logistic regression analysis of Mycoplasma pneumoniae (MP) infection and the six mucosal manifestations revealed that mucosal hyperemia and edema (OR = 2.43, 95 % CI 1.23-4.80, P = 0.011) and mucus/sputum plugs (OR = 2.51, 95 % CI 1.53-4.10, P < 0.001) exhibited statistical significance in relation to MP infection.

Bronchoscopy serves as a valuable tool in promoting the short-term absorption of lesions, pathogenic diagnosis, airway clearance during the treatment of segmental/lobar pneumonia. It serves as a valuable tool in managing segmental/lobar pneumonia in children, which warrants its active implementation in children with segmental/lobar pneumonia.