Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42092890›Full record

ArticleBMC pulmonary medicine2026

Safety of flexible bronchoscopy in elderly patients.

Stephanie Spiegel, Ralf-Harto Hübner, Dirk Schürmann, Konrad Neumann, Eva Pappe, Thomas Sgarbossa, Martin Witzenrath, Jacopo Saccomanno

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In one paragraph

Article in BMC pulmonary medicine, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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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

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Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Stephanie SpiegelDepartment of Infectious Diseases, Respiratory Medicine and Critical Care, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
Ralf-Harto HübnerDepartment of Infectious Diseases, Respiratory Medicine and Critical Care, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
Dirk SchürmannDepartment of Infectious Diseases, Respiratory Medicine and Critical Care, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
Konrad NeumannInstitute of Biometrics and Clinical Epidemiology, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
Eva PappeDepartment of Infectious Diseases, Respiratory Medicine and Critical Care, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
Thomas SgarbossaDepartment of Infectious Diseases, Respiratory Medicine and Critical Care, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
Martin WitzenrathDepartment of Infectious Diseases, Respiratory Medicine and Critical Care, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
Jacopo SaccomannoDepartment of Infectious Diseases, Respiratory Medicine and Critical Care, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany. jacopo.saccomanno@charite.de.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundFlexible bronchoscopy is an indispensable tool in respiratory medicine. In the context of an aging society and increasing life expectancy, the number of elderly, often multimorbid patients is growing. This raises important questions regarding the safety of flexible bronchoscopy in this population.

methodsIn this retrospective study 1841 flexible bronchoscopies performed at two sites of Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin in the years 2022 and 2023 were assessed and classified into two age groups: patients ≥ 70 years (elderly group) and patients < 70 years (non-elderly group). Safety was assessed by the occurrence of complications, and in a GEE-analysis potential risk factors of complications were identified.

resultsIn total, 466 bronchoscopies in the elderly group and 1375 bronchoscopies in the non-elderly group were assessed. Bronchoscopies in the elderly group were performed more frequently under endotracheal intubation than in the non-elderly group (81.8% vs. 70.0%; p < 0.001). The overall complication rate was 2.3% with no significant differences between bronchoscopies of the elderly (1.7%) and non-elderly group (2.5%; p = 0.345). The most common complications were pneumothorax (0.9%) in the elderly group and hypoxia (0.8%) in the non-elderly group. Transbronchial forceps biopsy (p < 0.001; OR = 3.99) and endobronchial valve implantation (p = 0.002; OR = 6.44) were significantly associated with an increased risk of complications independent of age. DISCUSSION: In our study, flexible bronchoscopy proved to be a safe procedure with low complication rates in elderly and non-elderly patients. Age was also not associated with an increased risk of complications. Invasive interventions such as transbronchial forceps biopsies and endobronchial valve implantations were identified as risk factors independent of age. This underscores the importance of individualized risk minimizing strategies, in particular for complex and invasive procedures.

Indexed as

BronchoscopyAgedAged, 80 and overAge FactorsFemaleHumansIntubation, IntratrachealMaleMiddle AgedPneumothoraxRetrospective StudiesRisk FactorsAdverse eventsBronchoscopyElderlyPatient safetyRisk factors

Identifiers

PMID42092890
PMCPMC13151341

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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.