Chest
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Multicenter Study
Therapeutic Bronchoscopy for Malignant Central Airway Obstruction: Success Rates and Impact on Dyspnea and Quality of Life.
There is significant variation between physicians in terms of how they perform therapeutic bronchoscopy, but there are few data on whether these differences impact effectiveness. ⋯ Technical success rates were high overall, with the highest success rates associated with stent placement and endobronchial obstruction. Therapeutic bronchoscopy should not be withheld from patients based solely on an assessment of risk, since patients with the most dyspnea and lowest functional status benefitted the most.