Role of bronchoscopy in inhalation injury: a case report and literature review

Inhalation injury is a non-specific term that refers to damage to the respiratory tract or lung tissue from heat, smoke, or chemical irritants carried into the airway during inspiration. Injured pulmonary tissue must be protected from further damage due to resuscitation, mechanical ventilation and infection, providing appropriate support to the host's repair mechanisms and reducing local inflammation, as most of the consequences of smoke inhalation involve numerous inflammatory mediators. Bronchoscopy plays a key role in the evaluation and management of inhalation injury. We describe inhere a case of inhalation injury in an old lady, and we discuss the role of bronchoscopy in establishing the diagnosis, evaluating the extension of local damage and cleaning the lung, determining substantial improvements in the clinical conditions of patients with inhalation injury.