Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
24. YILLIK ULUSAL KONGRE, 17 Kasım 2021
ACKGROUND AND AIM: Endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration (EBUSTBNA) has been recognised as the first method of choice in diagnosis of mediastinal and hilar lesions.
Although the procedure is commonly used, there is no study assessing its contribution to the duration
required for diagnosis and treatment. In this study, we aimed to determine the extent of diagnosis and
treatment delays when using the EBUS-TBNA procedure and to address the possible factors
contributing to these delays.
METHODS: The demographic data, pathological diagnosis, need for additional procedures, symptoms,
presenting complaints and the time until the beginning of treatment was recorded in all patients who had
undergone EBUS-TBNA were recorded retrospectively.
RESULTS: A total of 134 patients (mean age 60.7±12 years, M/F: 78/56) were included. Averages of
patient application time, referral time, duration for the diagnosis, duration of treatment and total duration
were recorded as 40.9±28.7, 19.1±20.7, 32.1±17.9, 15.5±19.5, 103.3±49.4 days, respectively. Delay of
the patients were found as in 60.4% (n= 81), delayed referral in 35.8% (n= 48), diagnosis delays in
84.3% (n= 113), treatment delays in 38.8% (n= 52), total delay in 73.1% (n= 98) of the patients. A
statistically significant association was found between referral delay and total delay with age groups
(p=0.006). A statistically significant difference was recorded between patient delay and presence of
symptoms (p=0.027).
CONCLUSIONS: EBUS-TBNA procedure is safe and effective in diagnosis and treatment processes.
In addition, the procedure accelerates the diagnosis process after the hospital admission.
Keywords: EBUS-TBNA, diagnosis and treatment delays, mediastinal lymphadenopathy,
interventional bronchoscopy