At the Mayo Clinic, experience with 22 patients undergoing bronchoscopy on 29 occasions has shown that prolonged operative manipulation in the airway can be carried out safely and satisfactorily using general anesthesia. Requisites for this procedure include a period of apneic oxygenation, an adequate-sized endotracheal tube, hyperventilation of the patient during operative manipulation, and careful attention to management of postoperative bronchospasm. Prolonged bronchoscopy under general anesthesia has permitted localization of occult bronchogenic carcinoma at an earlier stage than has been possible up to this point.