Diagnostic utility of flexible bronchoscopy in elderly patients

Abstract

The results of this study indicate the high diagnostic value of FB together with low complication rates in patients aged 65 years and older.

Safety and Efficacy of Flexible Bronchoscopy in Elderly Patients: A Retrospective Comparative Study

“…The incidence of bleeding in elderly patients as a result of FB is reported to be 3.3–10.6% 8 , 15 , 25 ; however, in this study, its frequency was 50.2%. TBLB is known to increase the incidence of bleeding and pneumothorax 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 and TBLB was performed in 65.6% of patients.…”

“…A previous study on FB in elderly patients indicated a correlation between age and the incidence of pneumothorax, 6 whereas other studies suggested that FB was well-tolerated in elderly patients with no notable increase in complications. 7 , 8 Moreover, most previous studies included only a few octogenarians. Therefore, evidence of the effectiveness and safety of FB in elderly patients is insufficient and controversial.…”

Comfort and safety of bronchoscopy performed under sedation and local anesthesia in elderly patients

“…Ulasli et al reported that patients aged ≥65 years showed a higher incidence of respiratory depression than in those aged <65 years despite initial dose of midazolam was 1 mg during bronchscopy. [ 13 ] McLaughlin et al reported that hypoxemia occurred more frequently in octogenarians despite receiving lower doses of midazolam compared to younger patients. [ 14 ] In the present study, however, the decrease in SpO 2 was lower in the elderly group than in the non-elderly group.…”

Complications of Fiberoptic Bronchoscopy in Very Elderly Adults

“…To the Editor : Fiberoptic bronchoscopy is thought to be useful for diagnosing abnormalities in the lower respiratory tract and pulmonary parenchyma and is considered to be a safe method of examination, with a low rate of associated complications and mortality in the general population . However, the safety of fiberoptic bronchoscopy in very elderly adults has been evaluated in only a small number of studies and, before the present study, has never been evaluated in a prospective multicenter clinical trial . The aim of this prospective multicenter study was thus to compare the complications of fiberoptic bronchoscopy in very elderly adults with those in younger individuals.…”