Implementing flexible bronchoscopy in least developed countries according to international guidelines is feasible and sustainable: example from Phnom-Penh, Cambodia

BACKGROUND Flexible bronchoscopy is pivotal for the diagnosis of most respiratory diseases. A flexible bronchoscopy unit (FBU) was created in 2008 in the Preah Kossamak university hospital (Phnom Penh, Cambodia) through a cooperation program between a French and a Cambodian team. In 2009 we conducted an assessment of the compliance of the FBU to international standards and found that most of French and British guidelines were fully applied or adapted to local practice. The aim of the current work was to assess FBU again 6 years later, in order to determine if compliance to international guidelines was sustainable. METHODS The 2015 evaluation was conducted identically to 2009. All recommendation items from the French and the British Thoracic Societies guidelines were assessed individually. Each recommendation was assigned a status expressing the level at which it was respected in Cambodia: applied, adapted, not applied and not evaluable. An endoscope microbial sampling was performed as recommended by the French Ministry of Health. RESULTS Between 2009 and 2015, the pattern of international recommendations in the Cambodian FBU did not change. Notably the rates of applied French evaluable recommendations remained stable: respectively 58% vs 57%. Main changes in French guidelines occurred in adapted items that became applied (n = 5/15) while 4 previously adapted/applied items became not applied. Furthermore, all microbial analyses showed sterile results. CONCLUSIONS Our results show that implementation of a high quality FBU in a least-developed country is feasible. In addition, the performance is maintained in the long-term.