bronchoscopy vs. spitting sputum culture

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Jeana

New member
This may be a dumb question, but I have never had a bronchoscopy. I have always just coughed up something for a sputum culture. When do they do a bronchoscopy? Is that just for children who can't cough something up or what?
Thanks! <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0">
 
J

Jeana

New member
This may be a dumb question, but I have never had a bronchoscopy. I have always just coughed up something for a sputum culture. When do they do a bronchoscopy? Is that just for children who can't cough something up or what?
Thanks! <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0">
 
J

Jeana

New member
This may be a dumb question, but I have never had a bronchoscopy. I have always just coughed up something for a sputum culture. When do they do a bronchoscopy? Is that just for children who can't cough something up or what?
<br />Thanks! <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0">
 
Y

ymikhale

New member
my understanding is that they do it when you are not responding to meds you are on and they suspect you might have a bug hiding down there that diid not show up in the sample you coughed up. so i guess they do a bronchoscopy to get a closer look and get a better sample.
 
Y

ymikhale

New member
my understanding is that they do it when you are not responding to meds you are on and they suspect you might have a bug hiding down there that diid not show up in the sample you coughed up. so i guess they do a bronchoscopy to get a closer look and get a better sample.
 
Y

ymikhale

New member
my understanding is that they do it when you are not responding to meds you are on and they suspect you might have a bug hiding down there that diid not show up in the sample you coughed up. so i guess they do a bronchoscopy to get a closer look and get a better sample.
 
M

Mommafirst

Guest
Our doc told me that a sputum culture is USUALLY better than a bronchoscopy. His reasoning was that there are something like 8 places in one lobe and 5 in the other where you would want to sample. During a bronch, they can only sample 3 before they risk drowing the patient. Thus they only get samples from a few spots. However, when you can get up a good sample, you are drawing from all the spots into one gunk of mucus. So the culture is better. The bronchoscopy is very important for young kids or those who can't get up sputum, especially if you have an infection that is not responding to antibiotics.

I'm sure there are other good reasons that they need to do the bronch, I know they do them routines post transplant to check for rejection.
 
M

Mommafirst

Guest
Our doc told me that a sputum culture is USUALLY better than a bronchoscopy. His reasoning was that there are something like 8 places in one lobe and 5 in the other where you would want to sample. During a bronch, they can only sample 3 before they risk drowing the patient. Thus they only get samples from a few spots. However, when you can get up a good sample, you are drawing from all the spots into one gunk of mucus. So the culture is better. The bronchoscopy is very important for young kids or those who can't get up sputum, especially if you have an infection that is not responding to antibiotics.

I'm sure there are other good reasons that they need to do the bronch, I know they do them routines post transplant to check for rejection.
 
M

Mommafirst

Guest
Our doc told me that a sputum culture is USUALLY better than a bronchoscopy. His reasoning was that there are something like 8 places in one lobe and 5 in the other where you would want to sample. During a bronch, they can only sample 3 before they risk drowing the patient. Thus they only get samples from a few spots. However, when you can get up a good sample, you are drawing from all the spots into one gunk of mucus. So the culture is better. The bronchoscopy is very important for young kids or those who can't get up sputum, especially if you have an infection that is not responding to antibiotics.
<br />
<br />I'm sure there are other good reasons that they need to do the bronch, I know they do them routines post transplant to check for rejection.
 
T

TonyaH

Guest
The ability to produce a sputum sample on your own means you are coughing sputum from your airways directly into the specimin cup. When children are swabbed, the gag reflex causes the cough so what is coughed up most likely isn't mucus from deep down, but rather whatever is lingering in the upper airways.
 
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TonyaH

Guest
The ability to produce a sputum sample on your own means you are coughing sputum from your airways directly into the specimin cup. When children are swabbed, the gag reflex causes the cough so what is coughed up most likely isn't mucus from deep down, but rather whatever is lingering in the upper airways.
 
T

TonyaH

Guest
The ability to produce a sputum sample on your own means you are coughing sputum from your airways directly into the specimin cup. When children are swabbed, the gag reflex causes the cough so what is coughed up most likely isn't mucus from deep down, but rather whatever is lingering in the upper airways.
 
M

mom2owen

New member
Thanks Tonya, that makes sense. I was wondering because there was no cough with ds's culture so I was wondering how it would really get to the stuff in the lungs.
 
M

mom2owen

New member
Thanks Tonya, that makes sense. I was wondering because there was no cough with ds's culture so I was wondering how it would really get to the stuff in the lungs.
 
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