Archives of Critical Care Medicine

Background: Bronchoscopy is usually a safe procedure and major complications are extremely rare; however, it may also become complicated and lead to admission to the Intensive Care Unit. This study will assess the incidence of all causes of ICU admission and mortality rate among patients admitted to the ICU subsequent to bronchoscopy.

Methods: In this cross-sectional retrospective study, all of the patients admitted to the intensive care unit of Masih Daneshvari Hospital from January 10, 2010 to January 10, 2015, subsequent to bronchoscopy related complications were assessed. Data such as demographic characteristics, type of bronchoscopy, and complications were collected in checklists and analyzed by descriptive statistics.

Results: A total of 76 patients were enrolled in this study, including 34 males (44.7%) and 42 females (55.3%). The mean age was 48.5 ± 21.2 years. Most prevalent causes of ICU admission included resistant hypoxemia (32.8%), hemoptysis (18.4%), respiratory distress (7.9%), tracheal perforation (7.9%), and loss of consciousness (7.9%). A total of 85.7% of cases of hemoptysis and all cases of pneumothorax, loss of consciousness, pleural effusion, and cardiac arrest occurred in patients with lung malignancy. A total of 0.77% of patients, after a bronchoscopy procedure, needed ICU care during the years of the study. The mortality rate was 0.28%.

Conclusions: The most prevalent and major causes of ICU admission were observed in high-risk patients. It’s supposed that the selection of expert operators for such patients and performing the procedure in a well-equipped Centre may significantly decrease the rate of complications, ICU admission, and mortality.