Flexible Fiberoptic Bronchoscopy

The flexible fiberoptic bronchoscope was introduced in Japan by Dr. Shigeto Ikeda in the mid-1960s and became available for clinical use in the United States around 1970. The application of this technique represents one fo the most significant advances for the diagnosis and management of chest diseases as it enables the physician to directly visualize the tracheobronchial tree and obtain diagnostic specimens from regions of the lung previously inaccessible to the rigid bronchoscope. Except for suppleural lesions, fiberoptic bronchoscopy is the surgical procedure of choice in the evaluation of many pulmonary lesions. In addition, fiberoptic bronchoscopy plays a major therapeutic role in the evaluation of airway patency and elimination of retained secretions