Lung ultrasound assessment for pneumothorax following transbronchial lung cryobiopsy
BackgroundIatrogenic pneumothorax is a common and clinically important transbronchial cryobiopsy (TBCB) complication. A study was conducted to assess the diagnostic accuracy and clinical impact of immediate postprocedure lung ultrasound for diagnosing iatrogenic pneumothorax in patients suspected of interstitial lung disease (ILD) undergoing TBCB.Study design and methodsIn patients undergoing TBCB due to suspected ILD, LUS of the anterior surface of the chest was performed immediately after the TBCB procedure prior to extubation. Presence of lung point was used as a definite sign of pneumothorax. Chest X-ray (CXR) performed routinely 2 h after TBCB was used as reference standard.ResultsA total of 141 consecutive patients were included. Postprocedure LUS identified definite pneumothorax in 5 patients (3.6%)(95%CI: 1.5–8.3%). 2-hour CXR identified 19 patients (13.5%)(95%CI: 8.7–20.2%) with pneumothorax following TBCB. The diagnostic accuracy of LUS for diagnosing pneumothorax was: sensitivity 21.1% (95% CI: 6.1–45.6%), specificity 99.2% (95% CI: 95.5–100.0%), positive predictive value 80.0% (95%CI: 28.4–99.5%), and negative predictive value 89.0% (95%CI: 82.5–93.7%). Postprocedure LUS had a clinical impact in 5 patients (3.6%) (95%CI: 1.5–8.3), in which 4 had pleural drain inserted prior to extubation and 1 patient had prolonged observation prior to extubation.InterpretationLUS performed immediately following TBCB have a clinical impact by identifying patients with pneumothorax in need of immediate treatment prior to extubation, and to monitor pneumothorax size during in the operating room. Supplementary imaging prior to patient discharge is however still needed since the majority of pneumothoraxes develop later in the postprocedure period.