THE PHYSIOLOGICAL CONSEQUENCES OF BRONCHOSCOPY : A STUDY OF THE HAEMODYNAMIC CHANGES DURING BRONCHOSCOPY

Abstract

Physiological consequences are inherent to the procedure of bronchoscopy. Sixty
patients who underwent bronchoscopy at the Medical College Hospitals, Calcutta,
India, were studied to determine the changes that occur during bronchoscopy. Of
these twenty were consecutive adult patients who underwent rigid bronchoscopy under
general anaesthesia (Group I). Twenty were consecutive adult patients who had flexible
bronchoscopy under local anaesthesia (Group II). Ten consecutive paediatric patients
underwent rigid bronchoscopy with spontaneous ventilation under General Anaesthesia
(Group III) and ten were operated with controlled ventilation (Group IV). Heart Rate,
Blood Pressure SpO
2
and ECG were monitored during and upto 60 minutes after the
procedure.
Heart Rate changes were minimal in Group I but maximum in Groups II and III.
Procedures like suctioning & Bronchoalveolar Lavage (Bal) were associated with fall
of SpO
2, SpO
2
was best maintained in the fourth group. Three patients out of forty
adults patients had Electrocardiogram (ECG) changes. Significant Mean Arterial
Pressure (MAP) rise was seen in adults, but this was not significant in children. General
Anaesthesia failed to modify the rise of MAP observed in adults.
Key Words: Bronchoscopy : Physiological consequences : SpO2
, ECG changes,
heart rate, Mean arterial pressure