Bronchoscopy Cost in India

The cost of bronchoscopy in India typically ranges from $500 to $6,000 USD, depending on the hospital, city, and type of procedure.

Bronchoscopy is a test in which a thin, flexible tube with a camera is passed into the airways to look inside the lungs and take samples. The cost usually depends on:

• Diagnostic or with samples: biopsies and washings add laboratory costs.
• Type of bronchoscopy: standard or ultrasound-guided (EBUS).
• Sedation: and recovery care.
• Setting: day-case unit or hospital.

Bronchoscopy is usually an outpatient test. Ask what the quote includes, such as biopsies and laboratory tests.

Royal United Hospitals Bath explains that bronchoscopy lets doctors look directly at the airways to find the cause of symptoms. Samples of tissue (biopsy) or fluid can be taken for testing.

It may be used to investigate a persistent cough, coughing blood, an abnormal chest scan, or suspected infection or cancer.

According to the RUH leaflet:

• Numbing: local anaesthetic spray numbs the throat.
• Sedation: a mild sedative is given, and most people stay awake but drowsy.
• Duration: the test takes about 20 to 30 minutes, followed by about 1 hour of recovery.
• Eating and drinking: wait about 2 hours afterwards until the numbness wears off.

The RUH leaflet advises having an adult take you home and stay for 24 hours after sedation, and not driving for 48 hours.

Reported risks include bleeding after a biopsy, which usually settles within 24 hours, and air leak around the lung (pneumothorax), about 1 in 1,000 for a standard bronchoscopy and about 1 in 100 with a lung tissue biopsy. A short-lived fever and a sore throat are common.