THE ROLE OF TRACHEOBRONCHOSCOPY AND ESOPHAGOSCOPY IN ENT DEPARTMENTS - A STATEMENT OF POSITION

It is the task of each medical specialty to develop guidelines for dia gnosis and therapies. Examinations done by several specialties should follow a common consensus. A randomized survey at 70 German ENT depart ments investigated the current position of tracheobronchoscopy and eso phagoscopy at each institution.Sixty questionnaires were evaluable.Alt ogether 8,295 tracheobronchoscopies and 10,404 esophagoscopies were pe rformed.Thirty-six percent of all tracheobronchoscopies and 6% of all esophagoscopies were done with a flexible system.Approximately 58% of all tracheobronchoscopies and 55% of all esophagoscopies were performe d for tumor staging. Complications during tracheobronchoscopy occurred in 0.8% of cases and in 0.58% of the esophagoscopies. Using these dat a an interdisciplinary quality assurance concept was developed for tra cheobronchoscopy and esophagoscopy. Current experience has shown that a otolaryngologists in Germany mainly perform rigid tracheobronchoscop y and esophagoscopy. Although endoscopy is mostly done in cases with v aried anatomic structures, complications are very rare and comparable to flexible techniques. Greater experience with flexible systems also is to be encouraged in ENT departments.