Rapid On-Site Evaluation During Radial Endobronchial Ultrasound–Guided Transbronchial Lung Biopsy for the Diagnosis of Peripheral Pulmonary Lesions

Objective: To evaluate the diagnostic value of radial endobronchial ultrasound (R-EBUS) combination with rapid on-site evaluation (ROSE) guided transbronchial lung biopsy (TBLB) for peripheral pulmonary lesions.Methods: Peripheral pulmonary lesions identified by computed tomography underwent R-EBUS with or without ROSE randomly from February 2016 to August 2017. The diagnostic yield and the operation time were compared.Results: In total, 158 patients were involved in and completed this research, including 84 cases in the group of R-EBUS with ROSE, and 74 in the group without ROSE. The diagnostic yield of ROSE group was 85.7%. Among these positive cases, 69.4% cases were malignant tumors, and 30.6% cases were benign lesions. The operation time was (24.6 ± 6.3) min. In the group without ROSE, the diagnostic yield was 70.3%, including 35 malignant tumors (67.3%), and 17 benign lesions (32.7%). The operation time was (31.5 ± 6.8) min. There were significant differences between both groups in the diagnostic yield (χ2 = 5.556, P = 0.018) and in the operation time (t = 3.187, P < 0.01). No serious procedure related complications were observed, such as pneumothorax and hemorrhage.Conclusion: ROSE can improve the diagnostic yield, and shorten the operation time. R-EBUS combined with ROSE is a safe and effective technique for peripheral pulmonary lesions.