Endobronchial Cryotherapy

Cryosurgery, also known as endobronchial cryotherapy, is one of the advanced procedures for certain medical conditions in the lungs when common treatments are not in place. The procedure in turn becomes relatively effective in manipulating the airway obstructions that cannot be operated on in numerous cases and a few other cases of lung tumors. The procedure is initiated by passing a bronchoscope. It is a small and flexible tube, sometimes applied under guidance by the light source—to access directly the inner spot inside the lungs and conduct air. For the study, a cryoprobe is subsequently applied which is passed through the bronchoscope to the treatment part. The end of the cryoprobe is cooled only to temperatures of extreme cold, which freezes the tissue against it. By this, he treats or obstructs off the tissue, and the abnormal tissues are made to disintegrate while in other cases the air passage of the blockage causes those abnormal cells; once the cooling is done, the tissue defrosts, during which the dead tissue could be removed or the blockage could be reduced away. This cycle could usually be repeated various times, thereby giving further treatment to the tissue according to the additional requirement needed to reach the end-effect wanted. Endobronchial cryotherapy comes in at an advanced stage of lung disease due to tumors, where surgery is not an option because in most cases, the condition of the airways is inoperable. It may improve the patient’s ventilation by reducing a tumor’s bulk that partially obstructs an airway and therefore reduces the need for high-flow oxygen.