In the EBUS Bronchoscopy method, The EBUS device shows the lymph nodes, tissues, and blood vessels behind the bronchial wall very clearly as an ultrasound image by emitting sound waves with a probe attached to the tip of a flexible bronchoscope.
Thanks to its special needle, EBUS Bronchoscopy allows access to enlarged lymph nodes in the chest cavity that are unreachable by standard bronchoscopy or lesions adjacent to the central airways (Picture 1). After the lymph node or tumor mass is seen with this ultrasonography, a unique fine needle from the bronchoscope is sent to the tip of the bronchoscope, and we can biopsy it under the ultrasonographic image.
Another essential feature of endobronchial ultrasonography is the very low risk of complications. It prevents vascular injuries by separating the mass and blood vessels through real-time imaging during the biopsy.
With the EBUS Bronchoscopy device, a sample is taken from the inside of these lymph nodes and simultaneously evaluated by the pathologist in the operating room as the procedure continues (Picture 2). The presence of a pathologist in the operating room reduces the duration of the process and increases the diagnostic value. With EBUS, accurate staging is approximately 95%. Similarly is a very high rate of diagnosis in non-cancer diseases. In rare cases that cannot be diagnosed with EBUS, surgical methods such as mediastinoscopy or thoracoscopy are more invasive procedures performed under general anesthesia.
Therefore, EBUS is used:
- In the diagnosis of diseases inside the bronchial tree
- In the diagnosis of tumors that conventional methods cannot reach
- Especially in the diagnosis of enlarged lymph nodes in the chest cavity
- Diagnosis of tuberculosis, sarcoidosis, lymphoma, other infectious diseases, and other organ cancers.
- In diseases of the middle part of the chest, which we call the mediastinum, outside the bronchial tree
- In detecting clots at the level of the great pulmonary vessels
- EBUS is mostly used in lung cancer staging.
- Accurate staging is essential for the correct treatment of lung cancer because therapy decision depends on the stage. EBUS is the primary determinant of treatment, especially in the presence or absence of tumor spread in the mediastinal lymph nodes of the chest.
- Regional lymph node involvement, prevalence, and guidance for
- Transbronchial needle aspiration, tumoral invasion, and differentiation of vascular structures are among its functions.
Advantages of this method
This method is successful, especially in the diagnosis of enlarged lymph nodes in the chest cavity, the diagnosis and staging of tumors that conventional methods cannot reach, the treatment decision, the diagnosis of diseases such as sarcoidosis, lymphoma, tuberculosis, and in the detection of clots at the level of the great pulmonary vessels.
This method eliminates the risk of vascular injury by imaging the blood vessels with ultrasonography.
With this method, diagnosis and staging of lung diseases are achieved with a painless procedure of 15-30 minutes without hospitalization.
The complication rate is low. All vital functions, such as blood pressure, pulse, electrocardiography, and oxygen saturation, are monitored during the procedure.
Mild side effects such as agitation, cough, and bleeding at the needle site are rare. EBUS is a highly advanced diagnostic method that can save the patient from further surgical intervention.
It has reduced the need for diagnostic surgical interventions requiring the patient's hospitalization under general anesthesia.