title: The effects of fiberoptic bronchoscopy with and without atropine premedication on pulmonary function in humans.
abstract: Pulmonary function studies, including arterial blood gas analysis, were performed in 21 patients undergoing fiberoptic bronchoscopy. Eight received premedication with atropine and 13 did not. In the atropine-treated group there was no significant deterioration in pulmonary function immediately after bronchoscopy compared with baseline. Compared with the values obtained after topical lidocaine anesthesia, however, there was a decrease in peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR) (20 +/- 20%), forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1.0) (11 +/- 12%), forced expiratory flow between 25 and 75% of vital capacity (FEF25-75) (22 +/- 16%), and forced expiratory flow at 75% of exhaled vital capacity (FEF75) (28 +/- 38%) and an increase in residual volume (RV) (16 +/- 19%). In the no-atropine group, postbronchoscopy values showed a decrease in PEFR (13 +/- 19%), forced vital capacity (FVC) (13 +/- )9%), FEV1.0 (14 +/- 16%), and oxygen partial pressure (Pa02) (11 +/- 9%) and an increase in RV (19 +/- 31%) and alveolar-arterial oxygen pressure gradient (deltaAaPO2) (91 +/- 129%) compared with baseline values. In this group also, topical lidocaine anesthesia resulted in a decrease in FVC compared with baseline. We conclude that the deleterious effect of bronchoscopy on pulmonary function is counterbalanced by the beneficial effect of atropine and that atropine is therefore a useful premedication for fiberoptic bronchoscopy.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001285:Atropine / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001999:Bronchoscopy; D005105:Expiratory Reserve Volume; D005260:Female; D005336:Fiber Optic Technology; D005540:Forced Expiratory Flow Rates; D006801:Humans; D008168:Lung / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D008176:Lung Volume Measurements; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011292:Premedication; D014797:Vital Capacity
chemical_list: D001285:Atropine