We evaluated the performance of two methods for sample collection, mini bronchoalveolar lavage (Mini-BAL) and endotracheal aspirate (ETA), for diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) in critically ill patients.

In the study by Lacroix and colleagues in the previous issue of Critical Care, we appreciate the early use of the mini-bronchoalveolar lavage (mini-BAL) to diagnose health care-associated pneumonia (HCAP). However, some limitations of the study create difficulties in initiating this protocol in our institution.

Mini-BAL is a less-invasive, less-costly and less-cumbersome diagnostic tool than BAL. Objectives: In this study, we compared the diagnostic value of BAL and mini-BAL in the evaluation of pneumonia in immunocompromised patients with respiratory failure.

Mini-BAL is a nonbronchoscopic bedside method for performing a small-volume bronchial lavage. Even though the procedure is blind, research has shown that the microbiological results show good concordance with those obtained via bronchoscopic BAL and can be used to successfully guide treatment (5).

Our data demonstrate a high degree of both sensitivity and specificity of mini-BAL for the diagnosis of pneumonia in ventilated patients and indicate that mini-BAL could be considered as an acceptable alternative diagnostic study.

Mini-BAL is efficient in the treatment of recurrent atelectasis in pediatric ICU patients. Beneficial effects of surfactant administration after mini-BAL should be confirmed prospectively in a larger number of patients.

Feb 1, 2011 · Mini-BAL is a less-invasive, less-costly and less-cumbersome diagnostic tool than BAL. In this study, we compared the diagnostic value of BAL and mini-BAL in the evaluation of...

Reliability of mini-bronchoalveolar lavage for the measurement of epithelial lining fluid concentrations of tobramycin in critically ill patients.

Apr 22, 2013 · In the study by Lacroix and colleagues in the previous issue of Critical Care, we appreciate the early use of the mini-bronchoalveolar lavage (mini-BAL) to diagnose health care-associated pneumonia (HCAP). However, some limitations of the study create difficulties in initiating this protocol in our institution.

Feb 5, 2013 · Mini-bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) has been shown to be a useful tool in identifying pathogens, as in ventilator-associated pneumonia, with identification in up to 46.2% of cases, or in acute hypoxemic respiratory failure requiring noninvasive ventilation [8, 9].