Safety and feasibility of performing rigid bronchoscopy in the bronchoscopy suite instead of the operating room

Rigid bronchoscopy is an invasive procedure used for the management of complex airway diseases. Complications related to rigid bronchoscopy are uncommon in the hands of trained physicians. Traditionally, rigid bronchoscopy is performed in the operating room rather than the bronchoscopy suite based on the availability of advanced airway equipment and additional anesthesia support. This study assesses the safety and feasibility of performing rigid bronchoscopy on non-critically ill patients in the bronchoscopy suite. The aim of this study is to determine the safety of performing rigid bronchoscopy in a bronchoscopy suite, outside of an operating room setting.

This is a retrospective, single-center analysis of 372 rigid bronchoscopy procedures performed for complex airway interventions in the bronchoscopy suite over a 5-year period. The primary endpoint of this study was the safety of performing rigid bronchoscopy in the bronchoscopy suite. In this analysis, safety data was collected regarding intraoperative and post-operative complications of rigid bronchoscopies performed in the bronchoscopy suite.

Over a 5-year period between January 2019 and March 2024, 372 rigid bronchoscopies were performed in the bronchoscopy suite for non-emergent complex airway diseases. The overall incidence of intraprocedural complications in our cohort was 2 out of 372 procedures (0.5%). The two intraprocedural complications were pulmonary hemorrhage in 1 patient and cardiac ischemia in 1 patient. No incidence of airway injury, cardiac arrest, or death were observed. Seven procedures (1.9%) were followed by a change in clinical status requiring increased respiratory support within 24 hours of the rigid bronchoscopy.

Rigid bronchoscopy for the treatment of complex airway diseases, in the appropriate patient population, can be performed safely in the bronchoscopy suite.