5-320.0:

You have had a bronchoscopy that removed or destroyed pathologically changed tissue in your bronchi.

Air is breathed in via the mouth or nose. From there the air goes to the windpipe via the larynx. At the end of the windpipe are two bronchial tubes (or bronchi) branching away from it. The bronchial tubes run into the lungs. What is more, the bronchial tubes divide into even smaller branches. The larynx, windpipe, bronchia and lungs are part of the lower airways.

To do the bronchoscopy, a flexible tube is inserted through the mouth or nose and pushed down to the lower airways. The treatment sometimes also uses a rigid tube. A camera is attached to the end of the tube. This camera then sends images to a screen during the examination. It can then be seen whether the tissue is healthy or changed. Small tools such as forceps and scissors can be pushed through at the front of the tube. These enable removal of the pathologically changed tissue.