Nebulized Lignocaine for Topical Airway Anesthesia During Flexible Bronchoscopy: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Flexible bronchoscopy is one of the most widely performed procedures for diagnosis of various bronchopulmonary diseases. Most patients tolerate the procedure well although cough is often reported as a distressing symptom. It is likely that the acceptance of bronchoscopy would be significantly improved with control of cough. Use of sedation during bronchoscopy has been reported to improve procedure tolerance. However, awake(no sedation) bronchoscopy is routinely performed at many centres including ours. Topical lignocaine is administered during bronchoscopy for local anaesthesia. There is limited literature on the efficacy of lignocaine delivered with the nebulized route during awake flexible bronchoscopy. This study would help to determine the utility of nebulized lignocaine in airway anaesthesia during flexible bronchoscopy.