Bacteriological Sampling During Bronchoscopy

Abstract

In investigations of the bacterial flora of the bronchus, it has been customary to perform bacteriological examinations of sputum specimens, of specimens aspirated from the bronchi or of swab specimens from the bronchial mucosa. When taking sputum specimens, various methods have been employed to avoid contamination of the specimen by matter from the upper respiratory tract and from the mouth. Of these methods disinfection of the mouth (3) and washing of the sputum specimen (9) may be mentioned. The technique of taking aspirates from the bronchi has been described, for example, by Gronroos, Palva, and Saloheimo (2) and by Bergman, Colldahl, and Nilsson (1). However, the author has not found any mention of the taking of specimens for bacteriological examination by passing a swab through a bronchoscope, although swabs have been commonly employed to obtain samples from mucous membranes. The swab technique has, however, been used to obtain bacteriological specimens from the lower respiratory tract, but this has been done only in connection with the autopsy examinations where a passage has been opened by incision into the trachea (10).