Introduction: Noninvasive ventilation (NIV) is a standard procedure in selected patients with acute respiratory failure. Previous studies have used noninvasive ventilation to ensure adequate gas exchange during fiberoptic bronchoscopy in spontaneously breathing hypoxemic patients, thus avoiding endotracheal intubation. However, it is unknown whether bronchoscopy can be performed safely in patients with acute hypoxemic respiratory failure already in need of NIV prior to the decision for bronchoscopy.
Methods: We prospectively investigated 40 consecutive, critically ill, adult patients with acute hypoxemic respiratory failure (14 women, 26 men, age 61 ± 15 years, partial pressure for oxygen/fraction of inspired oxygen (PaO2/FiO2) < 300 under noninvasive ventilation, Simplified Acute Physiology scores (SAPS II) 47 ± 9.9 points). All patients required noninvasive ventilation prior to the decision to perform bronchoscopy (median 10.5 h; range 2.2 to 114). Blood gases, heart rate, blood pressure and ventilation were monitored before, during and up to 120 minutes after bronchoscopy.
Results: Bronchoscopy could be completed in all patients without subsequent complications. Oxygen saturation fell to < 90% in two patients (5%), and the lowest value during the procedure was 84%. The mean PaO2/FiO2 ratio improved from 176 ± 54 at baseline to 240 ± 130 (P < 0.001) at the end of bronchoscopy and 210 ± 79 after 120 minutes. The transient mean partial pressure of carbon dioxide in the arterial blood (PaCO2) increase was 9.4 ± 8.1 mm Hg. Four patients (10%) required endotracheal intubation during the first eight hours after the procedure. Bronchoalveolar lavage yielded diagnostic information in 26 of 38 (68%) patients.
Conclusions: In critically ill patients with acute hypoxemic respiratory failure requiring noninvasive ventilation, bronchoscopy can be performed with an acceptable risk. Since these patients per se have a high likelihood of subsequent endotracheal intubation due to failure of NIV, bronchoscopy should only be performed by experienced clinicians.