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What is bronchoscopy?

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Why do doctors do bronchoscopy?

Diagnosis of Lung Disorders

Bronchoscopy

Pulmonary Function Testing (PFT)

ADDITIONAL CONTENT

Diabetic ketoacidosis is a complication of diabetes. It occurs mostly in people with type 1 diabetes. Diabetic ketoacidosis occurs when a lack of insulin prevents glucose in the bloodstream from entering the cells. Without adequate glucose, the cells burn fat for energy, producing compounds called ketones. Ketones supply some energy, but they also make the blood too acidic. There are several causes of ketoacidosis. Which of the following is a cause of ketoacidosis?

Consumption of high amounts of sugar
Failure to take insulin by a person with type 1 diabetes
Taking too much insulin
Not getting enough exercise

Bronchoscopy

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Last full review/revision Mar 2021| Content last modified Mar 2021

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Bronchoscopy

Bronchoscopy is a test used to look inside your lungs. After giving you medicine to make you sleepy, the doctor puts a flexible scope down your nose or mouth into your lungs. Through the scope the doctor can:

See where in your lungs any bleeding is coming from
Get samples of mucus to check for infection
Take a small piece of tissue to check for cancer
Remove a foreign body from your lungs

Bronchoscopy

To view the airways directly, a doctor passes a flexible bronchoscope through a person's nostril and down into the airways. The area in the pink circle shows what the doctor sees.

Before the procedure you're given medicines to relax you or sometimes put you to sleep. For your safety, you shouldn't eat for at least 6 hours before the bronchoscopy.

Doctors spray a numbing medicine in your throat
Doctors thread the small flexible tube through your nose or mouth and into your lungs

Doctors can do several procedures during a bronchoscopy, such as:

Push salt water into your lung and then suction it back out to look for infection or cancer cells
Take a biopsy (a sample of tissue to look at under a microscope) with forceps or a needle that's passed through the scope

After bronchoscopy, doctors will watch you for 2 to 4 hours until you're fully awake. If they did a biopsy, you'll usually have a chest x-ray to make sure you didn't develop any problems, such as a collapsed lung Traumatic Pneumothorax Traumatic pneumothorax occurs when air accumulates between the chest wall and the lung because of an injury. It causes the lung to collapse partially or completely. People have chest pain and... read more .

Doctors use a bronchoscopy to look for problems such as:

Bleeding in the lungs
Lung cancer Lung Cancer Lung cancer is cancer that starts in your lungs. Cancers that start growing in other organs may spread (metastasize) to the lungs. Cancers that have spread to your lungs aren't really considered... read more
Lung damage from breathing in smoke
A foreign body that you choked on, such as a peanut

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Sarcoidosis

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Pulmonary Function Testing (PFT)

Diagnosis of Lung Disorders

Bronchoscopy

Pulmonary Function Testing (PFT)

Bronchoscopy

Lymphoid Interstitial Pneumonia

Pulmonary Chemical-Warfare Agents

Diabetic ketoacidosis is a complication of diabetes. It occurs mostly in people with type 1 diabetes. Diabetic ketoacidosis occurs when a lack of insulin prevents glucose in the bloodstream from entering the cells. Without adequate glucose, the cells burn fat for energy, producing compounds called ketones. Ketones supply some energy, but they also make the blood too acidic. There are several causes of ketoacidosis. Which of the following is a cause of ketoacidosis?

Consumption of high amounts of sugar
Failure to take insulin by a person with type 1 diabetes
Taking too much insulin
Not getting enough exercise

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