Bronchoscopy is a test that allows your doctor to examine your airways. It is performed with the help of an instrument called bronchoscope. Bronchoscope is a tube like instrument made of flexible fibre optic material with a light source and camera on the end. It is passed through your nose or mouth into the windpipe, under Local Anaesthesia. It allows your doctor to see the abnormality in the airways or the lungs and if needed, take a biopsy for pathological examination. It is done by a Chest physician. It is a safe procedure, lasts less than 30 minutes and yields lot of information. The patient is usually able to go home after few hours.

Sometimes this procedure is used to carry out treatment in cases of obstructed air passages by creating a passage for breathing (by electric current or laser or cryotherapy) or to put a stent across the obstruction to keep it permanently open.