Bronchoscopy and anesthesia for preschool-aged patients: a review of 228 cases.

Pediatric bronchoscopy is a complicated, high-risk procedure. From May 2000 to May 2002, we performed bronchoscopy in 228 preschool-aged children (newborn to 6 years old) under general anesthesia with a Storz-Hopkins rigid pediatric bronchoscope. The final diagnosis and complications during anesthesia were recorded. The most common findings from bronchoscopic examination were subglottic stenosis (or granuloma) (67, 29.4%), laryngomalacia (64, 28.1%), tracheal stenosis (or malacia) (29, 12.7%), pneumonia (23, 10.1%), and atelectasis (16, 7.0%). The main complications during anesthesia were arrhythmias, oxygen desaturation, and CO2 retention (high end-tidal CO2). The most serious complication was pneumothorax in one patient. Either endotracheal intubation or tracheostomy was required in 61% of the patients in this series to secure a patent airway after bronchoscopy. Bronchoscopy is necessary as a diagnostic and therapeutic tool for certain airway diseases or anomalies in pediatric patients. It requires cooperation between the endoscopist and anesthesiologist to insure the patient's safety.