August 2025
| Rigid bronchoscope | Flexible bronchoscope | |
| Design | Hollow stainless-steel tubes with accessory rigid telescope (with or without video capabilities) | Outer sheath, inner suction channel, thousands of glass fiber bundles, and/or incorporated distal video chip and camera |
| Outer diameter | 3 to 18 mm | 2.2 to 6 mm |
| Inner diameter | 2 to 16 mm | 1 to 2.2 mm |
| Instrumentation | Rigid telescope, bougies, suction catheter, ablative techniques, dilators, rigid forceps, and needles can be used simultaneously | Flexible balloon catheters, forceps, foreign body retrieval tools, needle catheters usually used sequentially |
| Video capabilities | Elective as an accessory | Quasi-mandatory (simple fiberoptics with eyepiece no longer manufactured) |
| Moderate sedation | No (historic applications only) | Yes, usual modality, also awake and without sedation |
| General anesthesia | Yes | Possible |
| Ventilation | Yes. Spontaneous, controlled, or manual. | No. Supplemental oxygen can be delivered through suction channel in emergency situations. |
| Suction capacity | Excellent | Limited |
| Examination/diagnosis | Limited to central airways | Central and peripheral airways |
| Therapeutic tissue debulking | Yes, using beveled edge and accessory methods | No, except for use of accessory instruments |
| Therapeutic airway dilation | Yes, using the hollow tube itself | Yes, using balloon catheters inserted through inner channel |
| Airway stent insertion | Silicone, hybrid, and self-expanding | Self-expanding |
| Cost/repairs | Virtually unbreakable rigid tubes. Telescopes can be costly. | Must be budgeted, initial purchase and repairs costly, careful maintenance required |
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