Is There Any Need For Another Bronchoscopy In A Person With Weakness?

Posted on Sat, 9 May 2015

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Sat, 9 May 2015 Answered on

Fri, 5 Jun 2015 Last reviewed on

Question : My husband had a bronchoscopy on 7/15/14 and a biopsy of his lungs on 7/24/14. Was there a need for another bronchoscopy on 8/26/14 when he was very weak

Answered by Dr. Drkaushal85 (1 hour later)

Brief Answer:
If he was not improving then repeat bronchoscopy was needed.

Detailed Answer:
Thanks for your question on HCM.
I can understand your concern.
Basically in infective etiology, bronchoscopy is done to for culture and sensitivity report. Culture is needed to identify the causative organism and sensitivity report will guide us about effective antibiotic treatment.
Biopsy is needed to rule out infection and cancer both.
So in his case, he might not improve after 1st bronchoscopy.
His pneumonia was mostly worsened, and hence doctors might have decided to go for another bronchoscopy and XXXXXXX (bronchoalveolar lavage) analysis for culture and sensitivity.
Treatment of pneumonia should be directed on causative organism and appropriate antibiotic.
So as a doctor, we always want to first isolate the organism. And XXXXXXX is best sample for this.
So repeat bronchoscopy is advisable if patient is deteriorating or not improving.
Hope I have solved your query.
I will be happy to help you further.
Thanks.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar