PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Elise Orvedal Leiten
AU  - Einar Marius Hjellestad Martinsen
AU  - Tomas Mikal Lind Eagan
AU  - Per Sigvald Bakke
AU  - Ingvild Haaland
AU  - Øistein Svanes
AU  - Gunnar Reksten Husebø
AU  - Rune Grønseth
TI  - Fever, hospitalization and healthcare utilization after research bronchoscopy
DP  - 2014 Sep 01
TA  - European Respiratory Journal
PG  - P702
VI  - 44
IP  - Suppl 58
4099  - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/44/Suppl_58/P702.short
4100  - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/44/Suppl_58/P702.full
SO  - Eur Respir J2014 Sep 01; 44
AB  - Background and aims: Based on a study on airways inflammation and the respiratory microbiome, we aimed to investigate if bronchoscopy leads to fever, healthcare utilization or hospitalization in obstructive lung disease and control subjects.Methods: From the ongoing Bergen Airways Microbiome Study 39 COPD patients (FEV1 ≥ 17% of predicted values), 2 with asthma, and 33 controls were interviewed 1 week after bronchoscopy regarding fever and healthcare utilization (hospitalization, unscheduled visits to a doctor, antibiotic use). Bronchoscopy included collected protected specimen brushes in both lungs, and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) of the right middle lobe in all but 7 subjects. 50 subjects received conscious sedation with alfentanil. 24 subjects received only topical lidocaine.Results: 31 women and 43 men, aged 35 to 81 years were examined. The post bronchoscopy fever rate was 41%, and was not related to healthcare utilization. 7 subjects received unscheduled medical care after the procedure, of these 1 was admitted for a bronchospasm (1 day), 2 for pneumonia (1 and 2 days), and one for 3 days for an unverified cerebral vascular incident. Case/control-status, sex, age, smoke, FEV1% of predicted, arterial PaO2, BAL yield, and conscious sedation were not associated with fever or healthcare utilization. A combination of low FEV1, exacerbation history and high symptom score did not predict outcomes in a logistic regression model.Conclusion: Fever was a frequently reported side effect of bronchoscopy, but was not related to need of healthcare attention. Neither case/control status nor FEV1 was related to healthcare utilization. Research bronchoscopy is safe in COPD, even with very low lung function.