Transcricoid Injection vs. Spray as You go Method for Local Anaesthesia During Bronchoscopy

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 transtracheal/transcricoid injection versus spray as you go method for lignocaine delivery to the airways during bronchoscopy. This study would help to determine the procedure comfort for the patient while using the transtracheal/transcricoid method vs the spray as you go method.