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Show Your Doctor Says . . The following is one of a series of articles written by members of the Utah State Medical Association and published in cooperation with your local newspaper. These articles are scheduled to appear every other week throughout the year in an effort to better acquaint you with problems of health, and designed to improve the well-being well-being of the people of Utah. BRONCHOSCOPY For years, doctors have been trying visualize the interior of the hollow Vgans of the body, to facilitate diagnoses and treatment. Brochoscopy is the term used to describe the inspection of the system of tubes leading into the lungs. Air, as it is inhaled, passes through the larynx, or voice box, and into the trachea or windpipe. The trachea divides in the chest into two main bronchi which conduct air to each lung, one on either side of the chest. Each of these main bronchi then divides into the bronchi to eaeh lobe of the lung. Within With-in each lobe, the bronchi divide and branch, thus becoming smaller and more numerous so that each tiny area of the lung receives its tiny bronchus. These bronchi are a system of branching tubes and may be likened to the branches of a tree. Because of this similarity, it is sometimes called the tracheobronchial tree. The function or action of this system of tubes is to conduct air to and from the lungs and to drain the lungs. The actual absorption of oxygen into the blood and the elimination of carbon dioxide from the blood occurs in the lung itself, but it is the bronchi which conduct the oxygen to the lungs and remove the carbon dioxide. The second principal function of the bronchi is drainage. It is estimated that about a quart of fluid is brought up from the bronchi every twenty-four hours. The inside walls of the bronchi are moist, and this moisture must be constantly changed and kept fresh. The interior of the bronchi is lined by cells which have a minute hairline tuft protruding pro-truding from their surface. These "cilia", as they are called, wave back and forth like oars in a galley, and move the secretion in an upward direction. When the flid on the walls of the bronchi becomes too plentiful or too thick in consistency to be eliminated by the cilia, then a cough occurs and these secretions are carried upwards by that action. The instrument used in the examination examina-tion of the bronchi is called the bronchoscope. broncho-scope. Although there are many different differ-ent types and sizes, the bronchoscope consists essentially of a straight, hollow round tube with a tiny electric lamp at the end. Being hollow, it is possible to see through it and to insert into it various instruments. Instruments used frequently through the bronchoscope are telescopes, aspirators, aspira-tors, forceps, dilators, electrodes and magnets. Telescopes make it possible to see off to the side of the bronchoscope. broncho-scope. Aspirators are used to open a passageway to the lungs. The collected secretions are used for laboratory examination. Forceps are used to remove tiny pieces of tissue for microscopic examination as well as for the removal of foreign bodies or objects that enter the lung. Dilators are used for stretching stretch-ing areas of bronchial obstruction. Various electrodes are used for cauterizing cauteri-zing tumors in the trachea and bronchi, and magnets are occasionally used in the removal of certain types of foreign bodies. Bronchoscopy is an important aid in the diagnosis of many chest diseases. As a diagnostic procedure, it is done after the usual history is taken, a physical physi-cal examination has been made, and the various laboratory tests, including x-rays x-rays of the chest, have been completed. Bronchoscopy is one of the developments develop-ments in modern medical care which has increased diagnostic accuracy, has great therapeutic value in the treatment of various pulmonary diseases, and its value in the removal of foreign bodies from the lung is a life-saving procedure. |