Transbronchial Cryobiopsy for the Diagnosis of Peripheral Pulmonary Lesions: A Prospective Randomized Controlled Study

, p < 0.001) and was associated with a lower frequency of severe crush artifact (8.0% vs. 52.0%, p < 0.001). Grade 2 bleeding occurred in 32.0% and 24.0% of patients, respectively, and no Grade 3 bleeding occurred. One patient in the TBCB group developed pneumothorax and recovered with conservative treatment. These findings show that R-EBUS-GS-assisted 1.1-mm ultrathin cryobiopsy is technically feasible for PPL sampling and provides larger, better-preserved histologic specimens, while improvement in pathological diagnostic yield was not statistically demonstrated in this small randomized cohort.