Comparative study of cryorecanalisation and cryoablation using flexible bronchoscopy for the treatment of endobronchial tuberculosis

To compare the efficacy and safety of cryorecanalisation and cryoablation using flexible bronchoscopy for the treatment of tumor-like endobronchial tuberculosis (EBTB). Patients with tumor-like EBTB (104) were randomly divided into a cryorecanalisation (54 patients) or cryoablation (50 patients) group to assess the differences in efficacy and complications between the treatments. The cryorecanalisation and cryoablation treatments’ therapeutic efficacies were 81.5% and 48.0%, respectively (p = 0.000); in patients with less than moderate obstruction (≤ 50%), the therapeutic efficacies were 92.9% and 88.9%, respectively (p = 1.000). In patients with more than moderate obstruction (> 50%), cryorecanalisation and cryoablation’s therapeutic efficacies were 77.5% and 25.0%, respectively (p = 0.000). The number of treatments in the cryorecanalisation and cryoablation groups were 2.46 ± 1.06 and 3.26 ± 0.75, respectively (p = 0.000). The main complication of the treatment protocol in both groups was bleeding, and the overall bleeding rate was 96.2% and 16.0% in the cryorecanalisation and cryoablation groups, respectively (p = 0.000). Cryorecanalisation via flexible bronchoscopy improved the outcome of patients with tumor-like EBTB and reduced the number of treatments required compared with cryoablation; however, it had a higher bleeding rate and the potential risk of severe bleeding.