Alveolar lavage fluid is the exudate from the surface of the lung mucosa collected after lavage of the tracheal alveoli during fiberoptic bronchoscopy.
Through the bronchoscope from the nasal cavity through the pharynx, directly to the trachea, bronchi used for alveolar lavage site, and then appropriate injection of lidocaine, anesthesia, and then injected into the lumen of the saline, given in small doses, and then recycled.
The recovered fluid is called alveolar lavage fluid and the alveolar lavage fluid can be sent for further testing to diagnose some respiratory diseases. The alveolar lavage fluid is sent as a specimen to improve relevant immunologic and microbiologic tests.
When diagnosing respiratory diseases, it can avoid the external influences of tests such as sputum culture and other tests, as well as avoiding the trauma caused by surgery, puncture biopsy, etc. It is conducive to the search for the causative organisms, which is an important guide to the diagnosis of the disease as well as the treatment of the disease, but the examination of alveolar lavage can not accurately locate the site of the lesion.
There are other uses for alveolar lavage fluid, so if you need to collect alveolar lavage fluid, please go to a specialized hospital.