Purpose: Sleep apnea can increase adverse outcomes during ambulatory surgery but not during gastrointestinal endoscopy. We hypothesize that STOP-BANG is associated with intraprocedural bronchoscopy respiratory complications.
Methods: Consecutive patients undergoing bronchoscopy under moderate sedation were prospectively administered the STOP-BANG questionnaire. Participants were assessed for intraprocedural complications including hypoxemia (oxygen saturation≤85%), bradypnea (respiratory rate<8), premature procedure cessation as well as the use of nonrebreather mask, bag-mask ventilation, jaw lift/chin tilt, nasal/oral airway, and naloxone administration. Associations were assessed via logistic regression. Least absolute shrinkage and selection operator was used for multivariable model variable selection.
Results: The 223 participants-mean age 61.1±15.5 years, body mass index 25.4kg/m (interquartile range: 22.4 to 30.7), 50.7% female, and 45.3% inpatient-had a high rate of respiratory complications (37.7%). There were no associations between STOP-BANG score and respiratory complications [odds ratio (OR)=1.07, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.92-1.25]. Asthma was protective in univariable models (OR=0.26, 95% CI: 0.04-0.98), whereas endobronchial ultrasound (OR=2.34, 95% CI: 1.35-4.10) and the number of procedure types (OR=1.24, 95% CI: 1.01-1.51) was associated with increased complications. The following factors were associated with respiratory complications in both multivariable and univariate analyses: increasing age (OR=1.28/decade, 95% CI: 1.03-1.61), baseline oxygen use per each liters per minute (OR=1.57, 95% CI: 1.21-2.09), and bronchoscopy duration (OR=1.20/10 min, 95% CI: 1.08-1.33).
Conclusion: Bronchoscopy respiratory complications are common. STOP-BANG was not associated with increased immediate bronchoscopy complication risk. Increasing age, oxygen use, and bronchoscopy duration were associated with respiratory complications; increased vigilance in these circumstances may prevent complications.