What To Expect During Bronchoscopy

Your doctor will do the procedure in an exam room at a special clinic or in the hospital. The bronchoscopy itself usually lasts about 30 minutes. But the entire procedure, including preparation and recovery time, takes about 4 hours.

Your doctor will give you medicine through an intravenous (IV) line in your bloodstream or by mouth to make you sleepy and relaxed.

Your doctor also will squirt or spray a liquid medicine into your nose and throat to make them numb. This helps prevent coughing and gagging when the bronchoscope (long, thin tube) is inserted.

Then, your doctor will insert the bronchoscope through your nose or mouth and into your airways. As the tube enters your mouth, you may gag a little. Once it enters your throat, that feeling will go away.

Your doctor will look at your vocal cords and airways through the bronchoscope (which has a light and a mini-camera at its tip).

The animation below shows a bronchoscopy procedure. Click the "start" button to play the animation. Written and spoken explanations are provided with each frame. Use the buttons in the lower right corner to pause, restart, or replay the animation, or use the scroll bar below the buttons to move through the frames.

The animation shows how a doctor inserts a bronchoscope into a patient’s nose and passes it down into the airways. This allows the doctor to look at the inside of the airways.

During the procedure, your doctor may take a sample of lung fluid or tissue for further testing. A chest x ray may be used to help find the exact area to take the sample.

Samples can be taken through these methods:

• Bronchoalveolar lavage (BRON-ko-al-VE-o-lar la-VAHZH). The doctor passes a small amount of salt water (a saline solution) through the bronchoscope and into part of your lung and then suctions it back out. The fluid picks up cells and bacteria from the airway, which your doctor can study.
• Transbronchial lung biopsy. The doctor inserts forceps into the bronchoscope and takes a small sample of tissue from inside the lung.
• Transbronchial needle aspiration. The doctor inserts a needle into the bronchoscope and removes cells from the lymph nodes in your lungs. These nodes are small, bean-shaped masses. They trap bacteria and cancer cells and help fight infection.

You may feel short of breath during bronchoscopy, but enough air is getting to your lungs. Your doctor will check your oxygen level. If the level drops, you'll be given oxygen.

If there's a lot of bleeding in your lungs or a large object stuck in your throat, your doctor may use a bronchoscope with a rigid tube. The rigid tube, which is passed through the mouth, is wider. This allows your doctor to see inside it more easily, treat bleeding, and remove stuck objects.

A rigid bronchoscopy is usually done in a hospital operating room while you're under general anesthesia. Anesthesia is used so you will sleep through the procedure and not feel any pain.

After the procedure is done, your doctor will remove the bronchoscope.