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Incidence of Fever and Bacteremia following Transbronchial Needle Aspiration
Section snippets
Materials and Methods
All patients undergoing transbronchial needle aspiration for the diagnosis or staging of carcinoma of the lung from April 1, 1984 to March 1, 1985 were included in this study. Informed consent was obtained, and the project was approved by the hospital's human use committee. The evaluations prior to entry included posteroanterior and lateral chest x-ray films, medical history, physical examination, and temperature. Patients excluded were those with fever, clinically evident
Results
Fifty transbronchial needle aspirations performed on 47 patients were entered into the study. The patients ranged in age from 34 to 80 years (mean, 60 years). The transbronchial needle aspiration was followed by transbronchial biopsy or endobronchial biopsy and brushings and washings in 22 of the 50 procedures. The total number of needle aspirations per patient ranged from four to 17 (mean, ten), and the number of times grossly bloody aspirations returned, indicating penetration into a major
Discussion
The transient nature of bacteremia following most procedures and manipulations of mucous membranes is of little consequence in most situations. In those patients with abnormalities of the cardiac valves and chambers or with arteriovenous fistulas or hyperalimentation lines, the risk for seeding these sites with bacteria and eventually causing infective endocarditis is substantial. There is no conclusive evidence of the efficacy of using systemic prophylactic antibiotics in susceptible patients
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
We thank Sgt Warren Parr, pulmonary technician, and Mrs. Lynette Emenzian for typing the manuscript.
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Cited by (0)
The opinions or assertions contained herein are the private views of the authors and are not to be construed as official or as reflecting the views of the Department of the Army or the Department of Defense.
Manuscript received April 1; revision accepted June 24.