National Research Institute of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (NRITLD), Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran TANAFFOS (Respiration) 1735-0344 21 2 2022 04 01 Safe Practice of Flexible Bronchoscopy for Non-COVID-19 Indications during the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic 207 213 702001 EN Nishant Kumar Chauhan Department of Pulmonary Medicine, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Jodhpur, India Benhur Joel Shadrach Department of Pulmonary Medicine, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Jodhpur, India 0000-0002-2314-2306 Naveen Dutt Department of Pulmonary Medicine, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Jodhpur, India 0000-0002-9517-4999 Ram Niwas Jalandra Department of Pulmonary Medicine, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Jodhpur, India 0000-0003-1168-1115 Kunal Deokar Department of Pulmonary Medicine, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Jodhpur, India 0000-0003-2603-1633 Mahendra Kumar Garg Department of General Medicine, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Jodhpur, India Vijaya Lakshmi Nag Department of Microbiology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Jodhpur, India Pankaj Bhardwaj Department of Community Medicine and Family Medicine, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Jodhpur, India Vidhi Jain Department of Microbiology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Jodhpur, India Sanjeev Misra Department of Surgical Oncology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Jodhpur, India. Journal Article 2023 02 21 <strong>Background:</strong> Flexible bronchoscopy is an aerosol-generating procedure (AGP), which increases the risk of transmission of SARS-CoV-2 infection. We aimed to find COVID-19 symptoms among healthcare workers (HCWs) involved in flexible bronchoscopies for non-COVID-19 indications during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. <strong>Materials and Methods:</strong> The participants of this hospital-based single-center descriptive study were HCWs of our hospital involved in flexible bronchoscopies of patients with non-COVID-19 indications. These patients had no clinical features of COVID-19 and were tested negative for SARS-CoV-2 by the real-time polymerase chain reaction of nasopharyngeal and throat swabs before the procedure. The study outcome was the occurrence of COVID-19 in study participants after exposure to bronchoscopies. <strong>Results:</strong> Thirteen HCWs performed 81 bronchoscopies on 62 patients. Indications for bronchoscopies included malignancy (61.30%), suspected infections (19.35%), non-resolving pneumonia (6.45%), mucus plug removal (6.45%), central airway obstruction (4.84%), and hemoptysis (1.61%). The mean age of patients was 50.44 ± 15.00 years, and the majority was males (72.58%). Bronchoscopic procedures included 51 bronchoalveolar lavages, 32 endobronchial ultrasound- transbronchial needle aspiration (EBUS-TBNA), 26 endobronchial biopsies, 10 transbronchial lung biopsy (TBLB), 3 mucus plug removals, 2 conventional TBNA, and 2 radial EBUS-TBLB. Except for two HCWs who complained of transient throat irritation of non-infectious cause, none of the cases developed any clinical features suggestive of COVID-19. <strong>Conclusion:</strong> A dedicated bronchoscopy protocol helps in minimizing the risk of transmission of SARS-CoV-2 infection among HCWs involved in flexible bronchoscopies for non-COVID-19 indications during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic.   https://www.tanaffosjournal.ir/article_702001_9afbee05a63c08a319eddbdd09baac0a.pdf