• You may need to remove some or all of your clothing. If so, you will be given a hospital gown.
• You will recline in a chair that is like a dentist's chair or sit on a procedure table with your head raised.
• You may get medicine (sedative) to help you relax. The medicine will be injected into a vein or given through an IV (intravenous)
• line that will be placed in your arm or hand.
• Your provider will spray a numbing medicine in your mouth and throat, so you won't feel any pain during the procedure.
• Your provider will insert the bronchoscope down your throat and into your airways.
• As the bronchoscope is moved down, your provider will examine your lungs.
• Your provider may perform other treatments at this time, such as removing a tumor or clearing a blockage.
• At this point, you may also get a BAL.

During a BAL:

• Your provider will put a small amount of saline through the bronchoscope.
• After washing the airways, the saline is sucked up into the bronchoscope.
• The saline solution will contain cells and other substances, such as bacteria, which will be taken to a lab for testing.