PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Barbato, A
AU  - Magarotto, M
AU  - Crivellaro, M
AU  - Novello, A
AU  - Cracco, A
AU  - de Blic, J
AU  - Scheinmann, P
AU  - Warner, JO
AU  - Zach, M
TI  - Use of the paediatric bronchoscope, flexible and rigid, in 51 European centres
AID  - 10.1183/09031936.97.10081761
DP  - 1997 Aug 01
TA  - European Respiratory Journal
PG  - 1761--1766
VI  - 10
IP  - 8
4099  - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/10/8/1761.short
4100  - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/10/8/1761.full
SO  - Eur Respir J1997 Aug 01; 10
AB  - We have undertaken a survey to establish current practices and differences in the use of bronchoscopes in children in European centres. A questionnaire was sent to all 220 members of the Paediatric Assembly of the European Respiratory Society (ERS). The questions concerned the following points: indications for bronchoscopy; site of bronchoscopy; type of sedation; any oxygen supplementation during the procedure; number of procedures performed in the previous 12 months; number of procedures performed in the neonatal intensive care unit; number of bronchoalveolar lavages (BALs); side-effects during and after the procedures; and diagnostic yield. Fifty one European centres (40.8% of the European centres contacted) took part in the study. A total of 7,446 bronchoscopies had been performed in the last 12 months: 4,587 using the flexible bronchoscope and 2,859 using the rigid bronchoscope. At centres using only the fibreoptic bronchoscope, the most frequent indication was "recurrent/persistent pneumonia" (17%); at centres using only the rigid bronchoscope, it was "foreign body inhalation" (36.7%); at centres using both methods, the most frequent indication was "other indications" (23.9%). In 12 months, 2,231 BALs were performed: 1,419 in immunocompetent children and 812 in immunocompromised patients. In centres using only the fibreoptic bronchoscope, the highest yield was for "stridor" (81%); in centres using only the rigid bronchoscope, the highest yield was for "persistent atelectasis" (68%); and in centres using both instruments, it was for "foreign body inhalation" (93%). The results of the study suggest that bronchoscopy in children is now a well-established procedure at several European centres, while others are just beginning to use this technique.