People with pulmonary or thoracic diseases often require guidance and assistance from pulmonologists with expertise in advanced diagnostic and therapeutic procedures, including robotic bronchoscopy, thoracentesis, and pleuroscopy. Interventional pulmonology is a specialized branch of pulmonology.
It focuses on diagnosing and managing severe respiratory conditions via minimally invasive procedures. It usually involves endoscopic techniques instead of surgery, ensuring faster diagnosis, quicker recovery time, and less pain for our patients. However, there are multiple procedures in interventional pulmonology performed by cardiothoracic and other specialist surgeons.
What conditions are treated under interventional pulmonology?
Anything and everything related to the lungs and chest is covered under it. The conditions treated under interventional pulmonology are:
- Chest cancer
- Carcinoid tumours of endobronchial tumours
- Compressed air airways
- Abnormal chest X-Ray
- Covid-19 disease
- COPD
- Respiratory failure or recurrent respiratory papillomatosis
- Tuberculosis
What procedures are included under Interventional Pulmonology?
Several minimally invasive procedures are offered in interventional pulmonology, including multiple types of bronchoscopy. Some of them are:
Flexible Bronchoscopy: An interventional bronchoscopy performed with a flexible endoscope is called a flexible bronchoscopy. In this procedure, the doctors insert a flexible tube inside the patients' mouth or nose to see the lung and airways. The doctors will see the images from the lungs get displayed on a video screen to identify the cause of the problem. It can also be performed to remove any mucus or small lesions from the pleural space.
Lung Biopsy
During bronchoscopy, the doctors also take a tissue sample from the affected area to perform a biopsy. They will pass a needle through the bronchoscope and take samples to test it for cancer, sarcoidosis, or any other prevalent condition inside the body.
Bronchial Stent
In the cases of advanced cancer, the bronchus gets severely compressed. It may cause difficulty breathing, cough and pneumonia. Hence, the doctors may use an extended stent to open the bronchus and relieve the symptoms caused by constriction.
Balloon Bronchoplasty
Balloon Brachioplasty is performed by putting a deflated balloon into the abnormally narrowed airway. By inflating the balloon, the airway also expands, thus relieving the symptoms causing a relaxing breath.
Thoracentesis
The process is done to drain any fluid around the lungs by inserting a needle into the chest wall. Then, the excess pleural fluid is suctioned out from the affected area to restore respiratory functions.
Bronchoscopic Thermoplasty
The procedure is viable for people with severe asthma that cannot be controlled with medicines. In this procedure, the doctor will apply heat to destroy all the smooth muscle layers that contribute to asthma symptoms.
Rigid bronchoscopy
A long metal tube is inserted into the windpipe and made airways. The rigid bronchoscope having a large diameter allows the doctor to use more surgical tools for the process.
Bronchoalveolar lavage
This process will be done during bronchoscopy by injecting sterile water into a segment of the lung. The fluid will be suctioned back with traces of infection to diagnose the cause of the problem.
Pleuroscopy
In this procedure, a fluoroscope is inserted around the side of the lung to diagnose the condition of the pleura. It allows a view outside the edges of long, which bronchoscopy cannot provide.
Pulmonary specialists work with a multi-disciplinary team of specialist doctors, including thoracic surgeons, oncologists, radiologists, and respiratory therapists, to create a tailored treatment plan for the patient. This advanced team of doctors ensure that patients receive the highest quality care.
Why Eternal Hospital?
At Eternal Hospital, we have a highly qualified and dedicated team of urologists who are always committed to providing the latest and most advanced medical care to all our patients. Being a trusted name in healthcare, we act compassionately while ensuring confidentiality to those who need it. We have set high standards in patient-centric premium care and outstanding patient safety, and exceptional maintenance in a timely manner. We adhere to the use of up to the minute innovations to offer state-of-the-art treatments to our patients with unparalleled results.
