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Indications for the oral route mentioned by several bronchoscopists included difficult nasal introduction, bleeding diathesis, and TBLB. The nasal route was employed by 84 percent of 231 physicians surveyed for a 1986 British study. The use of an endotracheal tube was uncommon except in certain situations (Table 6). Fewer than one fourth of respondents routinely performed bronchoalveolar lavage to evaluate a pulmonary process in nonimmunocompromised patients. Additionally, many indicated that this procedure should be reserved for research purposes and should not be used in routine clinical practice. In immunocompromised patients, however, 77 percent of the respondents performed bronchoalveolar lavage. There was no question in the questionnaire on the utility of TBLB in this group of patients, although in nonimmunocompromised patients with diffuse lung disease, more than two thirds performed TBLB on a routine basis. The majority (79 percent) routinely obtained a chest radiograph following TBLB. The number of physicians who routinely hospitalized patients after TBLB (12 percent) seems high, since most patients do well after TBLB and the risk of pneumothorax and hemorrhage is low.