Chest

Chest

Volume 100, Issue 6, December 1991, Pages 1668-1675
Journal home page for Chest

ACCP Section Report
Bronchoscopy in North America: The ACCP Survey

https://doi.org/10.1378/chest.100.6.1668Get rights and content

SUMMARY

A mail survey of this type, has several inherent drawbacks. First, answers to some of the questions, particularly those pertaining to complication rates, rely on the memory of participants. Second, the wording of certain questions may have imparted different meanings. Third, the format of the questionnaire may have confused some. Fourth, one cannot expect that all questionnaires will be answered fully. Fifth, as indicated by several respondents, several important topics (eg, topical anesthetic agents and mode of their delivery, prophylaxis against infective endocarditis, tracheobronchial stent placement, endobronchial intraluminal radiotherapy) were not included. Many respondents suggested inclusion of these and other questions in future surveys.

Nevertheless, in the absence of any survey looking into a large number of bronchoscopy-related practices, mail surveys have the advantage of reflecting nationwide practice rather than results from selected centers, and this report provides some insight into bronchoscopy practices in North America. While the results indicate the present trends in bronchoscopy practices in North America, they do not establish or recommend any standards in bronchoscopy.

Section snippets

METHODS

A questionnaire with 39 questions was developed to include most of the procedures and techniques used in the practice of bronchoscopy. While the questions did not follow an identical format, several common definitions were provided for the survey participants. If a bronchoscopy-related procedure was performed “routinely,” it meant that the responder performed it in more than 85 percent of the time in her/his bronchoscopy practice. If it was performed “sometimes,” it meant that the physician

Demographics

The survey questionnaires were totally or partially completed and returned by 51.2 percent (871) of the 1,700 ACCP members sampled. When a question or a part of it elicited no response from a participant, the lack of response was accepted as neither an affirmative nor a negative response; instead, we reported it as “no response.”

Of the 871 respondents, 98.2 percent (855) were pulmonary physicians, and the rest were thoracic surgeons and specialists in critical care medicine. Further analysis

Bronchoscopy in General

A total of 466 survey participants provided data on the number of bronchoscopic procedures they performed during 1989 (Table 1). The mean number of procedures per physician was 115 (range, 1 to 450).

These 466 physicians performed a total of 53,639 bronchoscopie procedures during 1989.

This survey also demonstrates that an overwhelming majority of bronchoscopists (91.6 percent [798/871]) do not utilize the rigid bronchoscope; only 8.4 percent (73) respondents indicated that they use the rigid

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We thank Edward C. Rosenow III, M.D., F.C.C.P, immediate past president of the ACCP, who initiated the development of the questionnaire and provided critical review of the manuscript; and Stuart M. Garay, M.D., F.C.C.P, and the members of the Section of Bronchoscopy at the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota for their suggestions in the development of the questionnaire.

REFERENCES (28)

  • JJ Greve et al.

    Guidelines for bronchoscopy

    Am Thorac Soc News

    (1983)
  • JW Sokolowky et al.

    Guidelines for fiberoptic bronchoscopy

    (1986)

  • Guidelines for fiberoptic bronchoscopy in adults

    Am Rev Respir Dis

    (1987)

  • Summary and recommendations of a workshop on the investigative use of fiberoptic bronchoscopy and bronchoalveolar lavage in individuals with asthma

    J Allergy Clin Immunol

    (1985)

    • Cited by (0)

    This is a report from the ACCP Section on Clinical Pulmonary Medicine.

    View full text
    Copyright © 1991 The American College of Chest Physicians. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.