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A medical procedure placing a tube into the lung airways through the nose or mouth.
Scopes may be rigid or flexible.
A rigid bronchoscope is a straight, metal tube and is the tube of choice for removing foreign materials in the airway.
The rigid scope is thick and allows instruments t be more easily inserted through it.
Rigid scopes are useful in the presence of bleeding that interferes with the viewer vision and allows for greater degree of intervention, such as cauterization.
Fiber optic flexible bronchoscopes transmit light images as the tube bends.
flexible scopes allow investigation to reach further in the airways.
Performed safely under local anesthesia.
Flexible scopes have mostly replaced rigid scopes for most procedures.