Introduction

This information tells you about a test to look inside your lungs. It explains how the test is done, how good it is, the risks involved and what to expect afterwards.

The information about the accuracy and risks of the test is based on research studies and may be different in your hospital. You may want to talk about this with the doctors and nurses treating you.

What is a bronchoscopy?

A bronchoscopy is a test to look for disease inside your airways. The test can examine your lungs, throat, voice box (larynx), and windpipe (trachea).

During a bronchoscopy, a surgeon or doctor passes a tube through your nose or mouth and into your lungs to check for infections (such as tuberculosis and pneumonia), inflammation (red, swollen patches), bleeding, or lung cancer.

If your doctor sees anything unusual during the test, he or she can take samples of tissue to look at more closely. This is called a biopsy.

The tube used in a bronchoscopy is called a bronchoscope. It can be flexible or rigid. Most people have a flexible bronchoscopy because it's safer and more comfortable. A rigid bronchoscope is a straight, hollow, metal tube that's sometimes used if you're having treatment. For example, if you have a small object, such as a peanut, stuck in your airways, a rigid bronchoscope can be used to remove it.

The information here is about flexible bronchoscopy.

Why do I need this test?

You might need a bronchoscopy if you have symptoms that could be caused by an infection or lung cancer. You may have a bronchoscopy if:^[1]

• You've been coughing up blood

• You've had breathing problems for a long time and have other symptoms that can't be explained

• You've been exposed to asbestos in the past, have chest pain, trouble breathing, or unexplained symptoms, and a chest x-ray shows signs of cancer.

You may also have a bronchoscopy if you have one of the following symptoms that either can't be explained and has lasted more than three weeks:^[2]

• Chest pain

• Shoulder pain

• Trouble breathing

• Weight loss

• Chest sounds that aren't normal

• A hoarse voice

• A cough

• A change in shape of the ends of your fingers (called clubbing)

• Swelling in the glands in your neck or above the collar bone.

Most people who have a bronchoscopy have already had other tests to examine their chest. Guidelines from the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), the organisation that advises doctors about treatments, say that you should have a chest x-ray and a CT scan before a bronchoscopy.^[2]

If these other tests show a shadow, blockage, or lump in your lungs, a bronchoscopy helps your doctor check whether this is cancer.^[2] A CT scan can also look for signs that cancer has spread beyond your chest.

To read more, see our information on lung cancer.

Some people have had a test where they cough up phlegm, which is then checked for signs of infection under a microscope. If you have a lung infection doctors can collect some cells from your lungs during a bronchoscopy to try to find the cause. This helps them decide what treatment will help clear up the infection.

If you have asthma and medicines aren't helping your symptoms, your doctor may suggest you have a bronchoscopy to find out what is causing the symptoms.