Equipment and procedural setup for interventional pulmonology procedures in the intensive care unit.

Procedural setup is an important aspect of any procedure. Interventional pulmonologists provide a procedural practice and have additional expertise in performing high-risk procedures needed in the critically ill patients in intensive care. Taking the time to plan the procedure setup in advance and having all necessary equipment readily available at the patient's bedside is imperative for procedural services.

Improved Diagnostic Yield and Specimen Quality With Endobronchial Ultrasound-Guided Forceps Biopsies: A Retrospective Analysis.

Background: Endobronchial ultrasound (EBUS) transbronchial needle aspiration (TBNA) has a high diagnostic yield when evaluating mediastinal and hilar lymphadenopathy (LAD). Having previously demonstrated the safety of EBUS-guided cautery-assisted transbronchial nodal forceps biopsy (ca-TBFB), we report disease-specific improvements in diagnostic yield and tissue acquisition when supplementing the EBUS-TBNA-based standard of care (SOC) with ca-TBFB.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 213 patients who sequentially underwent SOC and ca-TBFB during the same procedure.

Safety and Tolerability of Vacuum Versus Manual Drainage During Thoracentesis: A Randomized Trial.

Background: Pleural effusions may be aspirated manually or via vacuum during thoracentesis. This study compares the safety, pain level, and time involved in these techniques.

Methods: We randomized 100 patients receiving ultrasound-guided unilateral thoracentesis in an academic medical center from December 2015 through September 2017 to either vacuum or manual drainage.