How does a bronchoscopy feel

You will be awake during the procedure. You will be given medicine to help you relax sedative. You will also be given a liquid medicine to numb your nose and throat. For a rigid bronchoscopy, you will be given general anesthesia. This is medicine that prevents pain and lets you sleep through the procedure.

You may be given oxygen through a nasal tube or face mask. Your heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing will be watched during the procedure. Numbing medicine will be sprayed into the back of your throat.

This is to prevent gagging as the bronchoscope is passed down your throat. The spray may have a bitter taste to it. Once the tube passes down your throat the gagging feeling will go away. Saliva will be suctioned from your mouth as needed.

The healthcare provider will move the bronchoscope down your throat and into the airways. You may have some mild pain. Your airway will not be blocked. You can breathe around the bronchoscope. You will be given extra oxygen if needed. As the bronchoscope is moved down, the lungs will be examined. Tissue samples or mucus may be taken for testing.

Other procedures may be done as needed. This may include giving medicine or stopping bleeding. After the procedure, you will spend some time in a recovery room.

You may be sleepy and confused when you wake up from general anesthesia or sedation. Your healthcare team will watch your vital signs, such as your heart rate and breathing. A chest X-ray may be done right after the procedure. This is to make sure your lungs are okay. You may be told to gently cough up and spit your saliva into a basin. This is so a nurse can check your secretions for blood.

You may have some mild pain in your throat. You will not be allowed to eat or drink until your gag reflex has returned. You may notice some throat soreness and pain with swallowing for a few days. Join over , people who receive the latest news about lung health, including COVID, research, air quality, inspiring stories and resources.

Thank you! You will now receive email updates from the American Lung Association. Select your location to view local American Lung Association events and news near you. Our service is free and we are here to help you. Section Menu. What Is Bronchoscopy? How to Prepare You will not be able to eat or drink anything after midnight the night before the bronchoscopy. What to Expect?

Understanding the Results After the procedure, your doctor may discuss the findings of the bronchoscopy and future healthcare plans with you. What are the Risks Associated with Bronchoscopy?

Make a Donation Your tax-deductible donation funds lung disease and lung cancer research, new treatments, lung health education, and more. Make a Donation. Sign Up for Email Updates Join over , people who receive the latest news about lung health, including COVID, research, air quality, inspiring stories and resources. Please enter a valid email address. Zip Code. However, you are unlikely to remember anything about the bronchoscopy if you have a sedative. You may be connected to a monitor to check your heart rate and blood pressure during the procedure.

A device called a pulse oximeter may also be put on a finger. This does not hurt. It checks the oxygen content of the blood and will indicate if you need extra oxygen during the bronchoscopy. You may have soft plastic tubes placed just inside your nostrils to give you oxygen during the procedure.

The doctor will insert the tip of the bronchoscope into one of your nostrils and then gently guide it round the back of your throat into your windpipe trachea. It is sometimes passed via your mouth rather than via your nose if you have narrow nasal passages. The bronchoscope may make you cough. The doctor looks down the bronchoscope and inspects the lining of your trachea and main bronchi the main airways.

Bronchoscopes transmit pictures through a camera attachment on to a TV monitor for the doctor to look at. The doctor may take one or more samples biopsies of parts of the inside lining of the airways - depending on why the test is done and what they see. This is painless. The biopsy samples are sent to the laboratory for testing and to be looked at under the microscope. Sometimes bronchial lavage is done. This is a procedure where some fluid is squirted into a section of the lung and then syringed back.

The fluid is then examined in the laboratory to look for abnormal cells and other particles that may be present in certain diseases. The bronchoscope is then gently pulled out. Sometimes other procedures are done, as described earlier. The bronchoscopy itself usually takes about minutes. However, you should allow at least two hours for the whole appointment, to prepare, give time for the sedative to work, for the bronchoscopy itself and to recover.

This requires a general anaesthetic, similar to that for minor operations. So, after receiving the anaesthetic, the next thing you know is when you wake up in a recovery room. You may be advised not to take any medicines that affect blood clotting , such as aspirin and warfarin , for one week before the bronchoscopy.

You will need to discuss your medication with your doctor if you take such medicines for other conditions. In addition to this, you should receive instructions from the hospital before the test. These usually include:. If you have a sedative, you may take an hour or so before you are ready to go home after the bronchoscopy is finished.

The sedative will normally make you feel quite pleasant and relaxed. However, you should not drive, operate machinery or drink alcohol for 24 hours after having the sedative. You should not eat or drink anything for two hours after the bronchoscopy because your throat will still be numb. You will need somebody to accompany you home and to stay with you for 24 hours until the effects have fully worn off. Most people feel able to resume normal activities after 24 hours. The doctor may tell you what they saw before you leave.

However, if you have had a sedative you may not remember afterwards what they said.