Halawa ARR, Farooq S, Amjad MA, Jani PP, Cherian SV. Role of interventional pulmonology in intensive care units: A scoping review. World J Crit Care Med 2025; 14(2): 99654 [DOI: 10.5492/wjccm.v14.i2.99654]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Sujith V Cherian, FCCP, MBBS, MD, Associate Professor, Department of Critical Care, Pulmonary and Sleep Medicine, University of Texas Health-McGovern Medical School, 6431 Fannin Street, Houston, TX 77030, United States. sujith.v.cherian@uth.tmc.edu
Research Domain of This Article
Respiratory System
Article-Type of This Article
Minireviews
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Crit Care Med. Jun 9, 2025; 14(2): 99654 Published online Jun 9, 2025. doi: 10.5492/wjccm.v14.i2.99654
Role of interventional pulmonology in intensive care units: A scoping review
Abdul Rahman R Halawa, Saad Farooq, Mohammad Asim Amjad, Pushan P Jani, Sujith V Cherian
Abdul Rahman R Halawa, Saad Farooq, Mohammad Asim Amjad, Pushan P Jani, Sujith V Cherian, Department of Critical Care, Pulmonary and Sleep Medicine, University of Texas Health-McGovern Medical School, Houston, TX 77030, United States
Author contributions: Halawa ARR, Farooq S, Amjad MA, and Cherian SV were responsible for conception and design; Jani PP and Cherian SV were responsible for administrative support and provision of study materials or patients; Halawa ARR, Farooq S, and Amjad MA were responsible for collection and assembly of data and data analysis and interpretation; Halawa ARR, Farooq S, Amjad MA, Jani PP, and Cherian SV were responsible for manuscript writing; all of the authors read and approved the final version of the manuscript to be published.
Conflict-of-interest statement: There are no conflicts of interest.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Sujith V Cherian, FCCP, MBBS, MD, Associate Professor, Department of Critical Care, Pulmonary and Sleep Medicine, University of Texas Health-McGovern Medical School, 6431 Fannin Street, Houston, TX 77030, United States. sujith.v.cherian@uth.tmc.edu
Received: July 27, 2024 Revised: October 31, 2024 Accepted: December 23, 2024 Published online: June 9, 2025 Processing time: 215 Days and 5.4 Hours
Abstract
Interventional pulmonology (IP) represents a rapidly growing and developing subspecialty within pulmonary medicine. To the intensivist, given the elaborate undertakings with respect to airway, lung and pleural disease management-IP has shown an increasing presence and remain a major ally in the care of these patients. Thus, an understanding of the different roles that IP could offer to the intensivist is of prime importance in the multi-disciplinary care of the complex patients within the intensive care units, particularly in relation to lung, airway and pleural diseases. This review article will explore the different intersections of IP in critical care and discuss the applications of this discipline within the highly complex critical care environment.
Core Tip: The role of interventional pulmonology (IP) in critical care is described within this review article which will highlight the role of IP in the management of critically ill patients, particularly in patients with respiratory failure due to several reasons including hemoptysis, central airway obstruction and its different etiologies including malignancies, foreign body aspirations, blood clots and mucus. Moreover, the role of IP in management of pleural diseases, use of different tools such as endobronchial ultrasound in diagnosis of pulmonary vascular issues in the critically ill patient will be described. Finally, the role of IP in performing bedside procedures such as tracheostomy and percutaneous ultrasound gastrostomies with consequent economic benefits and decrease in lengths of stay will be outlined.
