Bronchoalveolar Lavage (BAL)

What are bronchoscopy and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL)?

Bronchoscopy is a procedure that allows a health care provider to look at your lungs. It uses a thin, lighted tube called a bronchoscope. The tube is put through the mouth or nose and moved down the throat and into the airways. It helps diagnose and treat certain lung diseases.

Bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) is a procedure that is sometimes done during a bronchoscopy. It is also called bronchoalveolar washing. BAL is used to collect a sample from the lungs for testing. During the procedure, a saline solution is put through the bronchoscope to wash the airways and capture a fluid sample.

What happens during bronchoscopy and BAL?

Bronchoscopy and BAL are often done by a pulmonologist. A pulmonologist is a doctor who specializes in diagnosing and treating lung diseases.

A bronchoscopy usually includes the following steps:

• You may need to remove some or all of your clothing. If so, you will be given a hospital gown.
• You will recline in a chair that is like a dentist's chair or sit on a procedure table with your head raised.
• You may get medicine (sedative) to help you relax. The medicine will be injected into a vein or given through an IV (intravenous) line that will be placed in your arm or hand.
• Your provider will spray a numbing medicine in your mouth and throat, so you won't feel any pain during the procedure.
• Your provider will insert the bronchoscope down your throat and into your airways.
• As the bronchoscope is moved down, your provider will examine your lungs.
• Your provider may perform other treatments at this time, such as removing a tumor or clearing a blockage.
• At this point, you may also get a BAL.

During a BAL:

• Your provider will put a small amount of saline through the bronchoscope.
• After washing the airways, the saline is sucked up into the bronchoscope.
• The saline solution will contain cells and other substances, such as bacteria, which will be taken to a lab for testing.