Brochoscopic Airway Clearance Therapy vs. Conventional Sputum Aspiration: The Future of Flexible Brochoscopes in Intensive Care Units?

Abstract

(1) Background: The aim of our study is to investigate the effectiveness of bronchoscopic airway clearance therapy (B-ACT) on severe pneumonia (SP) patients with invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV) in the intensive care unit (ICU). (2) Methods: Our study retrospectively enrolled 49 patients with sputum aspiration and 99 patients with B-ACT, and the latter were divided into the ≤once every 3 days group (n = 50) and >once every 3 days group (n = 49). (3) Results: We found most laboratory blood results were significantly improved in the B-ACT group as compared with those in sputum aspiration group (p p p p = 0.011; HR: 0.285, 95% CI: 0163–0.498, p < 0.001). (4) Conclusions: In the future, flexible bronchoscopes may paly an important role in ACT for SP patients with IMV.

Keywords

• flexible bronchoscopes
• airway clearance therapy
• severe pneumonia
• invasive mechanical ventilation
• intensive care unit
• survival to hospital discharge