Assessment of the Use of Radial Endobronchial Ultrasonography With a Guide Sheath in Increasing the Yield Rate of Transbronchial Lung Biopsy

For lung nodules, there are several ways to acquire tissue for pathology study, including computed tomography (CT)-guided core needle biopsy, radial probe endobronchial ultrasound (rEBUS)-guided transbronchial lung biopsy (TBLB), convex probe EBUS transbronchial needle aspiration (TBNA), and echo-guided core needle biopsy. rEBUS-guided TBLB has relatively low limitation of lesion position, comparing to echo-guided core needle biopsy and EBUS-TBNA, and doesn't need to deal with the risk of radiation exposure.1 For peripheral pulmonary lesions (PPL), it has good yield rate and the operation is easy.2 However, when bleeding occurs, the procedure time is prolonged for hemostasis. Nonetheless, using a guide sheath can help with the problem. According to the literatures, biopsy yield rates vary but on average it is higher with a guide sheath (62~90% vs. 41~73%), while the complication rates are about the same (1.3~4.4% 1.5~5.0%). The investigators would like to know whether the diagnostic rate is higher with a guide sheath and so do the procedure time and the complication rate. Whether the lesion character affect the yield rate will also be studied.