Bedside bronchoscopy procedures
In most ICUs bedside bronchoscopy procedures, such as bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) or bronchial wash (BW),are routine procedures help tailor the correct treatment of the patient.1 However, workflow delays and the risk of lost or contaminated samples are challenges that clinicians must overcome. This page gives you an overview of these challenges and how Ambu® aScope™ 4 Broncho Sampler Set helps you address them.
Every minute counts
Critically ill patients on mechanical ventilation face a number of risks during ICU hospitalization. For example, it is estimated that up to 28% of intubated patients requiring mechanical ventilation develop ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP).
Given the severe consequences of risks such as those associated with VAP, it is critical that a timely and accurate diagnosis is made. Bronchoscopy with bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) is an excellent tool for making the diagnosis. However, bronchoscopy should never delay antimicrobial therapy, particularly in ICU settings. It is therefore crucial that a bronchoscope is immediately available at all times.1
Ready when you are
In many ICUs, the standard practice has been to request a bronchoscope tower and then wait. The wait could be 30 minutes, or it could be several hours. Complications are compounded by staffing availability issues. Who will be available at just the right time when the scope is ready?
Bronchoscopy should fit your schedule
Scheduling today vs. scheduling with aScope 4 Broncho
Scheduling today
Imagine you need to fit four bronchoscopies into the day’s schedule. Are you guaranteed a scope at the time you will need it and have the staff ready? What’s the turnaround on getting a clean scope? If you have to wait until the next day for the scope, what consequences will delaying treatment have on your patients?
Scheduling with aScope 4 Broncho
Now imagine you can schedule the bronchoscopies whenever you need to and set up the system in seconds. You can do all the procedures first thing in the morning or push them until later. Even if later is 2 am, with the aScope™ 4 Broncho Sampler Set, you can always perform a BAL or BW procedure.
Can a single-use bronchoscope perform as well as a reusable one?
According to over 50 studies and an evaluation by two independent, experienced clinicians, the answer is yes. The Ambu aScope single-use bronchosocopy solution was assessed as easy to use and performed at a 100% success rate for BAL and BW in invasively ventilated critically ill patients.2
100%
Advance to major
bronchial segments
91%
Suction capacity
96%
Image quality
20
Patients
(BAL and BW)
2
Bronchoscopists
100%
Successfully performed
Experience with Ambu aScope
Does your bronchial sampling workflow compromise clinical outcomes?
To understand the workflow challenges and sampling concerns, Ambu conducted a survey among physicians practicing in the ICU and/or bronchoscopy suites (BS) in the US and UK with 116 respondents.2
Lost bronchial samples?
Waiting for a bronchoscope?
Learn how to lower contamination risks
of clinicians have lost a sample.
of ICU doctors often do.
of doctors are concerned about contamination during BAL/BW procedures.
Learn how current BAL/BW workflows may compromise clinical outcomes:
References
A. Ernst, Introduction to Bronchoscopy, Chapter 9, pp. 85-96, Carla Lamb, Bronchial washing, bronchioalveolar lavage, bronchial brush, and endobronchial biopsi, Cambridge Medicine, 2009
A. Ernst, Introduction to Bronchoscopy, Chapter 12, Jed A. Gorden, Bronchoscopy in the Intensive Care Unit, pp. 115-123, Cambridge Medicine, 2009
McGrath AB, et al. Evaluating the Ambu aScope 3 system for bronch-alveolar lavage and bronchial wash in invasively ventilated patients. 2013, 26th ESCIM Annual Congress, Paris; 2013.
