Anesthesia for adult rigid bronchoscopy

Dincq, Anne-Sophie [UCL] Gourdin, Maximilien [UCL] Collard, Edith [UCL] Ocak, Sebahat [UCL] d'Odémont, Jean-Paul [UCL] Dahlqvist, Caroline [UCL] Lacrosse, Dominique [UCL] PUTZ, Laurie [UCL]

Rigid bronchoscopy under general anesthesia enables performing diagnostic and/or therapeutic procedures in the tracheobronchial tree. This technique is characterized by specific technical problems, insofar as the anesthesiologist and the operators share the same space, namely the airway. Several potential complications (hemorrhage inside the airway, threat to ventilation ...) may arise. These challenges render the ability to use the variable available techniques essential, as well as knowledge of the complications they could entail, and the ability to rapidly solve them. General anesthesia is usually total intravenous anesthesia, using short acting agents. Ventilation can be spontaneous, but more often insured using high-frequency jet ventilation. The hospital infrastructure and staff must have the expertise to perform this particular procedure, in order to limit the complication rate.