Value of Bronchoalveolar Lavage with Acetylcysteine in the Treatment of Bronchiectasis.

Bronchiectasis is a clinical syndrome characterised by chronic cough, profuse sputum and/or intermittent haemoptysis, with or without shortness of breath and respiratory failure of varying severity, and abnormal thickening and dilatation of the bronchial walls as seen on lung imaging. Nebulised inhalation of N-acetylcysteine has been shown to significantly improve symptoms, shorten the length of hospital stay, reduce the rate of re-hospitalisation within six months, and improve lung function in patients with bronchiectasis with a high degree of safety. There have been no studies on the efficacy and safety of bronchoscopic irrigation with N-acetylcysteine solution in the treatment of bronchiectasis. The aim of this study was to investigate whether bronchoscopic acetylcysteine lavage combined with conventional treatment is more beneficial to patients with bronchiectasis than conventional treatment combined with conventional bronchoalveolar lavage and conventional treatment without bronchoscopy, respectively.