How was Pediatric Flexible Bronchoscopy Implementation Affected During the COVID-19 Era? A Retrospective Study

Abstract

Aim:As the application of flexible bronchoscopy (FB) has a high risk for infection transmission, it is recommended to postpone elective FB procedures during the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. We aimed to determine how the COVID-19 pandemic affected pediatric FB implementation.Materials and Methods:Medical records of patients who underwent FB from March 11, 2015, to September 11, 2020, were examined retrospectively. Records of the post-COVID-19 period (March 11, 2020, to September 11, 2020) were compared with records of pre-COVID-19 (consists of each six-month time window from March 11 to September 11 of each year from 2015 to 2019) period in terms of hospitalization status of the patients, with numbers and indications of FB. Some additional measures were taken during the FB procedure in the post-COVID-19 period. A number of health workers infected during FB procedures in the post-COVID-19 period were reviewed.Results:Of the total of 182 procedures, the least FB was performed in the post-COVID-19 period (34, 30, 36, 36, 25, and 21 procedures respectively from 2015 to 2020). While microbiological sampling with bronchoalveolar lavage was the most common indication in the post-COVID-19 period, atelectasis was leading in the pre-COVID-19 period (p<0.001). In the post-COVID-19 period, most of the patients were inpatients while outpatient predominance was determined in the pre-COVID-19 period (p<0.001). None of the health workers was infected during the FB procedure.Conclusion:Postponing elective FB procedures decreased the numbers and affected the indications of procedures during the COVID-19 era. Taking additional measures is of great importance and effective to prevent transmission of infection during FB.

Keywords

• childhood
• covid-19 pandemic
• flexible bronchoscopy