Flexible bronchoscopy in Israel 2010: evidence-based clinical practice guidelines for the adult patient. A concise summary of the recommendations of the Israel Lung Association Task Force.

* dr shulimzon is in charge of interventional Pulmonology at sheba medical center, tel Hashomer, and served as chairman of the task Force appointed by the israel lung association. F lexible bronchoscopy is an integral part of interventional pulmonology and one of the most frequently performed diagnostic and therapeutic procedures in chest medicine. In Israel, most of the bronchoscopies are performed in hospitals, and the bronchoscopic procedure and auxiliaries (diagnostic and therapeutic) are part of the specialty training in pulmonology [1]. In view of the tremendous progress in technology and diagnostic procedures in chest medicine in the last 20 years, the need for comprehensive evidence-based clinical practice guidelines was imperative. Guidelines for FB practice were published in Europe – the United Kingdom [2] and France [3] – and the techniques preferred by physicians were surveyed in the United States [4], Australia and New Zealand [5], Japan [6] and China. It was patently obvious that the Israel Lung Association also had to establish national guidelines for the practice of FB, based on medical evidence available to date. Thus, in 2008 the Israel Lung Association established a task force to provide national guidelines for performing FB in adult patients. Members of this task force were elected from the country’s major medical centers that perform bronchoscopic procedures; and experts from anesthesiology, chest surgery, ear, nose and throat surgery, as well as nursing, were asked to provide accurate and real-life guidelines. (A list of the task force members appears at the end of this report). The task force's recommendations were not intended to describe indications for FB, but rather, are guidelines for preventing complications while respecting the patient’s dignity