Single‐use vs. reusable flexible bronchoscopes for airway management and in critical care: a narrative review
Study context
- Population
- Studies of flexible bronchoscopes for airway management or use in critical care52 studies
- Comparison
- Single-use vs reusable flexible bronchoscopes
- Outcome
- Safety, usability, cost-effectiveness and environmental impact
Methodological detailsqualitative synthesis, human or animal studies of any design, Searched MEDLINE, Embase and PubMed and manufacturer websites; data from six manufacturer websites included
- Qualitative synthesis
- Human or animal studies of any design
- Searched MEDLINE, Embase and PubMed and manufacturer websites; data from six manufacturer websites included
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
- Mixed evidence for safety; usability data showed significant heterogeneity
- Neither single-use nor reusable appeared convincingly superior for safety or usability
- Cost-effectiveness for each institution depends on rate of use per year and several other factors; risk of cross-contamination an advantage of single-use devices
- Sufficient evidence on rate of bronchoscopy-induced infection in OR and critical care lacking
- Single-use devices must be sterilised or incinerated after use; completely recyclable single-use models not currently available
Original publication
Single‐use vs. reusable flexible bronchoscopes for airway management and in critical care: a narrative review. Anaesthesia. Published 30 September 2024. doi:10.
Composed by AI from the published abstract and checked against it. How Briefs are made →