Portable fibrobronchoscopic treatment for non-severe ischemic stroke-associated pneumonia patients with dysphagia: a pilot study

Objective: To investigate the efficacy and safety of portable fibrobronchoscopy on the non-severe ischemic stroke-associated pneumonia (SAP) patients with dysphagia. Methods: A total of 86 non-severe ischemic SAP patients with dysphagia were randomly and equally divided into the treatment group and control group. The control group was given routine sputum suction, anti-infection drugs, and sputum-reducing drugs. The treatment group was treated with fiber-optic bronchoscopic sputum suction and alveolar lavage, and drug treatment same as the control group. The blood gases, inflammatory factors, clinical pulmonary infection score (CPIS), adverse reactions, and modified Rankin Scale (mRS) were compared. Results: The blood gases, serum inflammatory factors including procalcitonin (PCT), C-reactive protein (CRP), and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), and CPIS in the treatment group were superior to those in control group (P < 0.05). No significant difference was found in the incidence of adverse reactions between the two groups (P > 0.05). The mRS scores of the treatment group were significantly lower than those of control group 3 months after discharge. Conclusion: Sputum suction and alveolar lavage with portable fibrobronchoscope can significantly improve the hypoxia and pulmonary infections, reduce the inflammatory response, and thus improve the prognosis, rendering suction and alveolar lavage with portable fibrobronchoscope as a safe and effective treatment for non-severe ischemic SAP patients with dysphagia.