Objective: To investigate the clinical effect of Children's bronchoscopy and bronchoalveolar lavage on endogenic foreign body in bronchus.
Method: (1) Three hundred and thirty-seven cases had bronchoscopy and bronchoalveolar lavage whose chest X-ray diagnoses were bronchopneumonia with one or two lobe emphysema and/or pulmonary atelectasis, in which 22 cases had severe pneumonia with heart failure and respiratory failure. All cases had no history of foreign bodies' inhalation and become more dyspnea after a three-day treatment of antibiotics. Three hundreds and thirty one cases of bronchoalveolar lavages were divided into two groups randomly using saline or azythromycin, saline group had 126 cases (aged 0 approximately 10 years, mean age, 3 years ); azithromycin group had 211 cases(aged 0 approximately 8 years, mean age, 3.1 years).
Result: There were 331 cases of endotracheal endogenous purulent emboli, 126 cases in left lung, 178 in right, and 27 cases in both sides. Judging from nature of emboli, 305 cases were mucus, 4 cases were milk valve, 22 cases were white membrane of plastic bronchitis. In azithromycin group, 172 cases (81.2%) were cured, 39 cases (18. 8%) showed effective, the total effective rate was 100 percent. In saline group, 96 cases were cured, 24 cases showed effective, the total effective rate was 100 percent. There wasn't statistically significant between two groups in total effective rate. The average hospitalization time had a statistical significance between saline group (11 days) and azithromycin group (6 days). Two cases of complication of pneumothorax happened in operation. They recovered through closed drainage of thoracic cavity and 3 cases dead.
Conclusion: Bronchoscopy and bronchoalveolar lavage could shorten the course of endogenic foreign body in bronchus; especially it has significance to those cases of respiratory path obstruction with heart and respiratory failure. Plastic bronchitis could be determined by bronchoscopy and a pathologic histologic examination thereafter.