Article Text
PostScript
Correspondence
The benefit of taking a control sample when performing bronchoalveolar lavage
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- Bronchoscopy
- Cystic Fibrosis
- Equipment Evaluations
- Infection Control
- Respiratory Infection
- Bacterial Infection
Contamination of bronchoscopes is well described.1–3 However, while cleaning and disinfecting bronchoscopes are clearly described in standardisation documents,1–3 the performance of a control sample prior to bronchoscopy is not suggested.4 ,5 Here, we offer an argument for such a procedure, supported by our experience with a 2-year-old boy with cystic fibrosis who underwent flexible bronchoscopy and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL).
The bronchoscope in question had been used on a previous case on the same list, then supposedly cleaned and decontaminated, prior to …