Evidence map›Paper›PMID 31912201›Full record

ArticleIntensive care medicine2020

Benefit-to-risk balance of bronchoalveolar lavage in the critically ill. A prospective, multicenter cohort study.

Toufik Kamel, Julie Helms, Ralf Janssen-Langenstein, Achille Kouatchet, Antoine Guillon, Jeremy Bourenne, Damien Contou, Christophe Guervilly, Rémi Coudroy, Marie Anne Hoppe and 9 more

Registry-linked trialOpen access · bronzeAbstract readMulticenter Study
In one paragraph

Article in Intensive care medicine, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT04502368 (Fiberoptic Bronchoscopy and Bronchoalveolar Lavage in Critically Ill Ventilated Patients), which is not on this map. Cited by 26 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
26citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
2.7field-weighted citation impact, top 9% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

NCT04502368 unknown statusnot on this map

Fiberoptic Bronchoscopy and Bronchoalveolar Lavage in Critically Ill Ventilated Patients: Impact on Respiratory Mechanics and Gas Exchange

TypeobservationalSponsorErasme University HospitalRan2020 to 2021Enrolled15ConditionsFiberoptic Bronchoscopy (FOB), Bronchoalveolar Lavage (BAL), Respiratory DiseaseArmsFiberoptic Bronchoscopy (FOB), Bronchoalveolar Lavage (BAL), Electrical Impedance Tomography (EIT), Arterial Blood Gas test (ABG)
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

26 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 37 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Review
  3. CAP in the ICU: are they all in fact CAP?Intensive care medicine · 2026
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  11. Towards a holistic approach to pulmonary infections. Insights from the Sixth Annual Meeting of Spanish Experts 2024.Revista espanola de quimioterapia : publicacion oficial de la Sociedad Espanola de Quimioterapia · 2025
    Review
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  20. Observational
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

19 authors at 15 institutions in 1 country.

Toufik KamelService de Médecine Intensive Réanimation, Centre Hospitalier Régional d'Orléans, 14 Avenue de l'Hôpital CS 86709, 45067, Orléans Cedex 2, France.
Julie HelmsCHU de Strasbourg-Hôpital Civil, Service de Réanimation Médicale 1, Place de l'Hôpital, BP 426, 67091, Strasbourg Cedex, France.
Ralf Janssen-LangensteinMédecine intensive Réanimation, Hôpital de Haute pierre, Hôpitaux Universitaires de Strasbourg, Avenue Molière, 67098, Strasbourg Cedex, France.
Achille KouatchetCHU d'Angers Service de Réanimation Médicale et de Médecine Hyperbare, 4, Rue Larrey, 49933, Angers Cedex 09, France.
Antoine GuillonCHRU de Tours-Hôpital Bretonneau Service de Réanimation Polyvalente, 2 bis, Boulevard Tonnelle, 37044, Tours Cedex 09, France.
Jeremy BourenneMédecine Intensive Réanimation, Réanimation des Urgences CHU la Timone 2-Pole RUSH, 264 Rue Saint Pierre, 13005, Marseille, France.
Damien ContouCH d'Argenteuil Service de Réanimation Polyvalente, 69, Rue du Lieutenant-Colonel Prudhon, 95107, Argenteuil Cedex, France.
Christophe GuervillyAssistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Marseille, Hôpital Nord, Médecine Intensive Réanimation, 13015, Marseille, France.
Rémi CoudroyMédecine intensive et Réanimation, CHU de Poitiers, 2 rue de la Milétrie, 86021, Poitiers, France.
Marie Anne HoppeCH de La Rochelle-Hôpital Saint-Louis Service de Réanimation Polyvalente, Rue du Docteur Schweitzer, 17019, La Rochelle Cedex 01, France.
Jean Baptiste LascarrouService de Médecine Intensive Réanimation, CHU de Nantes-Hôtel Dieu, 30 Bd. Jean Monnet, 44093, Nantes Cedex 1, France.
Jean Pierre QuenotCHU de Dijon-Complexe du Bocage, Service de Réanimation Médicale, 2 Boulevard Maréchal de Lattre de Tassigny, BP 77908, 21079, Dijon Cedex, France.
Gwenhaël ColinCHD Vendée-Hôpital de la Roche-sur-Yon, Service de Réanimation Polyvalente Les Oudairies, 85925, La Roche-Sur-Yon Cedex 09, France.
Paris MengHôpital Raymond Poincaré, APHP, Service de Médecine intensive Réanimation, 104 Boulevard Raymond Poincaré, 92380, Garches, France.
Jérôme RoustanCentre hospitalier de Montauban, service de réanimation polyvalente, 100 rue Léon Cladel, BP 765, 82013, Montauban Cedex, France.
Christophe CraccoCH d'Angoulême Service de Réanimation Polyvalente, Rond-Point de Girac CS, 55015 Saint-Michel, 16959, Angoulême Cedex 9, France.
Mai-Anh NayService de Médecine Intensive Réanimation, Centre Hospitalier Régional d'Orléans, 14 Avenue de l'Hôpital CS 86709, 45067, Orléans Cedex 2, France.
Thierry BoulainService de Médecine Intensive Réanimation, Centre Hospitalier Régional d'Orléans, 14 Avenue de l'Hôpital CS 86709, 45067, Orléans Cedex 2, France. thierry.boulain@chr-orleans.fr.ORCID 0000-0003-4664-3661
Clinical Research in Intensive Care Sepsis Group (CRICS-TRIGGERSEP)
Centre hospitalier universitaire d'Orléans · FRAssistance Publique Hôpitaux de Marseille · FRCentre Hospitalier d'Angoulême · FRCentre Hospitalier de La Rochelle · FRCentre Hospitalier Universitaire d'Angers · FRCentre Hospitalier Universitaire de Nantes · FRCentre Hospitalier Universitaire de Tours · FRCentre Hospitalier Victor Dupouy · FRCHU Dijon Bourgogne · FRHôpital Civil, Strasbourg · FRHôpital de la Timone · FRHôpital Raymond-Poincaré · FRHôpitaux Universitaires de Strasbourg · FRInserm · FRRoche (France) · FR

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeTo assess the benefit-to-risk balance of bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) in intensive care unit (ICU) patients.

methodsIn 16 ICUs, we prospectively collected adverse events during or within 24 h after BAL and assessed the BAL input for decision making in consecutive adult patients. The occurrence of a clinical adverse event at least of grade 3, i.e., sufficiently severe to need therapeutic action(s), including modification(s) in respiratory support, defined poor BAL tolerance. The BAL input for decision making was declared satisfactory if it allowed to interrupt or initiate one or several treatments.

resultsWe included 483 BAL in 483 patients [age 63 years (interquartile range (IQR) 53-72); female gender: 162 (33.5%); simplified acute physiology score II: 48 (IQR 37-61); immunosuppression 244 (50.5%)]. BAL was begun in non-intubated patients in 105 (21.7%) cases. Sixty-seven (13.9%) patients reached the grade 3 of adverse event or higher. Logistic regression showed that a BAL performed by a non-experienced physician (non-pulmonologist, or intensivist with less than 10 years in the specialty or less than 50 BAL performed) was the main predictor of poor BAL tolerance in non-intubated patients [OR: 3.57 (95% confidence interval 1.04-12.35); P = 0.04]. A satisfactory BAL input for decision making was observed in 227 (47.0%) cases and was not predictable using logistic regression.

conclusionsAdverse events related to BAL in ICU patients are not infrequent nor necessarily benign. Our findings call for an extreme caution, when envisaging a BAL in ICU patients and for a mandatory accompaniment of the less experienced physicians.

Indexed as

BronchoscopyCritical IllnessAdultBronchoalveolar LavageBronchoalveolar Lavage FluidFemaleHumansIntensive Care UnitsMiddle AgedProspective StudiesBronchoalveolar lavageFiberoptic bronchoscopyIntensive careMulticenter study

Identifiers

PMID31912201
PMCPMC7223716
OpenAlexW3000050991

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
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Registered trials

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.