The characteristics of patients undergoing endobronchial ultrasonography-guided transbronchial needle aspiration (EBUS-TBNA): single-center experience

Aims: We aimed to present the features of our Endobronchial ultrasonography-guided transbronchial needle aspiration (EBUS-TBNA) cases, the lymph nodes that were biopsied, their pathological diagnoses, and the complications that developed due to the procedure. Methods: All cases who underwent EBUS-TBNA between January 2016 and December 2023 in the chest diseases clinic of a training and research hospital were retrospectively screened. The patients who underwent the procedure (n=274) were included in the study. Cases in which fine needle aspiration biopsy was performed with EBUS-TBNA and the material obtained was not diagnostic (n=3) or in which the pathology result could not be obtained in the files (n=9) were excluded from the study. The design of our study was cross-sectional and planned as a descriptive study. Results: Of the 262 patients included in the analysis, 66.4% (n=174) were male and the average age of the population was 60.8±11.4 years. When EBUS-TBNA indications were evaluated, the procedure was performed for diagnostic purposes in 96.9% (n=254) and for re-evaluation after chemotherapy in 3.1%. EBUS-TBNA procedure was performed in 16.8% (n=44) patients due to mediastinal mass and in 83.2% (n=218) patients due to mediastinal lymphadenopathy. The most common stations where biopsy is performed with the EBUS-TBNA process are the subcarinal (7) and lower right paratracheal (4R) lymph node stations. When the biopsy results were evaluated, malignancy was reported in 54.6% (n=143) of the patients. The complications related to the EBUS-TBNA procedure were generally mild and trancient . Conclusion: EBUS-TBNA is a minimally invasive method used in the diagnosis and staging of lung cancer, the evaluation of non-endobronchial lesions, the diagnosis of benign diseases of the mediastinum, and the diagnosis of mediastinal metastases of extrathoracic malignancies. In experienced centers like our clinic, the diagnostic value of the procedure is high and the complication rates are very low.