Increase of lung function usage bronchoscopy in COVID-19 patients: Three case series in Indonesian adult

Christa Graziella Muljono; Isnin Anang Marhana; Irmi Syafaah; Herley Windo Setiawan; Bambang Pujo Semedi; Kun Arifi Abbas

doi:10.1016/j.ijscr.2021.106623

Increase of lung function usage bronchoscopy in COVID-19 patients: Three case series in Indonesian adult

Int J Surg Case Rep. 2021 Dec:89:106623. doi: 10.1016/j.ijscr.2021.106623. Epub 2021 Nov 23.

Authors

Christa Graziella Muljono¹, Isnin Anang Marhana², Irmi Syafaah¹, Herley Windo Setiawan¹, Bambang Pujo Semedi³, Kun Arifi Abbas³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pulmonology and Respiratory Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Airlangga - Dr. Soetomo General Academic Hospital, Surabaya, Indonesia.
² Department of Pulmonology and Respiratory Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Airlangga - Dr. Soetomo General Academic Hospital, Surabaya, Indonesia. Electronic address: isnin.anang@fk.unair.ac.id.
³ Department of Anesthesiology and Reanimation, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Airlangga - Dr. Soetomo General Academic Hospital, Surabaya, Indonesia.

Abstract

Background: COVID-19 is a virus that is spread by aerosol which can cause worsening of hypoxia and bronchoscopy procedures in COVID-19 patients may be considered.

Method: The design of this study is a case series reported using the Preferred Reporting of Case Series in Surgery (PROCESS) 2020 Guideline. Data collection was carried out in the period January-April 2021. All participants underwent X-ray examination and blood gas analysis as well as signs of infection before and after bronchoscopy.

Result: Three intubated patients with COVID-19 were confirmed from PCR nasopharyngeal swab present with worsening on chest X-ray. All three patients had a normal bronchial wall with some inflammation and thick mucus resulting in lung atelectasis and massive inhomogeneous opacity on chest X-ray. Patients showed improvement on chest X-ray after bronchoscopy intervention.

Conclusion: The bronchoscopy procedure can improve the lung function of COVID-19 patients and if it is carried out by medical personnel who pay attention to universal precautions, it will minimize the occurrence of transmission.

Keywords: Bronchoscopy; COVID-19; Case series; Infectious disease.