Bronchoscopy of cetaceans

Abstract

Bronchoscopy is a standard diagnostic and therapeutic procedure in respiratory medicine and has been performed on many animal species. Cetaceans suffer considerable morbidity and mortality from lower respiratory tract infections, and it is very difficult to sample lower respiratory tract secretions for microbiology and other analyses. We report our experience on performing fiberoptic bronchoscopy in three bottle-nosed dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) and one false killer whale (Pseudorca crassidens), which should help other clinicians in performing bronchoscopy in cetaceans.