As a general rule you must arrange transport to and from the hospital. Driving is not allowed the first 24 hours after the procedure.

If you take blood thinners and/or medication for Diabetes, it is important that you follow the instructions from the clinician.

On the day of the examination take your usual morning medication, but no later than 2 hours before your appointment.

Your appointment may have to be cancelled if you have a cold or flu. Therefore you need to contact us as soon as possible.

It is very important that you adhere to the following:

You may not eat or drink milk or juice with pulp, eg. orange juice, no later than 6 hours before your appointment.

You are allowed to drink water, cordial, tea/coffe without milk up to 2 hours before your appointment.

2 hours before your appointment, you are not allowed to consume anything.

We recommend drinking 2 glasses of sweet cordial 2 hours before your appointment as the cordial counteracts nausea and sickness before and after the examination.

If you have diabetes, drink water instead.

We also recommend that you do not smoke, use e-cigarettes, chew snuff or chew gum no later than 2 hours before your appointment.

You will have an intravenous line (IV line) into your arm to deliver a sedative to help you relax. The examination is carried out under local anaesthetic. The sedative will cause drowsiness during the examination.

Local anaesthetic gel is applied to both nostrils. The staff applies a numbing spray to your mouth or nose and throat. The pharynx and respiratory tract and the vocal cords are anaesthetised with a spray via the bronchoscope. The flexible bronchoscope is inserted through your nose or mouth and into your windpipe and lungs.

The mucous membranes are examined and in some cases samples are taken and sent for further examination.

When using ultrasound it is possible to asses the size of the lymph nodes surrounding the trachea and take samples if necessary.

There is plenty of room to breathe through the airway with the bronchoscope inserted.

The procedure takes approximately 1 hour.

You cannot eat or drink for the first couple of hours after the procedure due to the local anaesthetic. The staff will monitor your condition to ensure that you are breathing an swallowing properly.

In most cases patients are discharged after 3-4 hours.

You may experience mild side effects in form of sore throat and hoarsness. These will disappear after 24 hours.

When tissue samples have been taken, there may be blood in the mucous you cough up.

You might have a slight fever in the evening after the procedure. You can take 2 pain killers, such as Paracetamol, to alleviate the symptoms.

If you have a persistent fever or other symptoms, you must contact the Clinic for Lung Diseases, your general practioner or emergency call doctor.

The doctor from Clinic for Lung Diseases will give you the results of the examination at the Clinic approximately 5 working days after the procedure. We recommend that you bring a relative to this appointment.