TABLE 2.

Summary of level of evidence and grade of recommendation as suggested in the British Thoracic Society guidelines [5]

Procedure	Level of evidence	Grade of recommendation	Ref.
Perform coagulation studies, platelet count and haemoglobin concentration when there are clinical risk factors for abnormal coagulation	3	D	[5]
Degree of bleeding is higher after TBLB than EBB	3		[1]
LTX recipiens are more likely to bleed after TBLBs (not explained by clotting values or aspirin use)	3		[24]
Inspection and BAL can be performed in severely thrombocytopenic patients (platelet >20 000×109 per L−1)	3	D	[10]
Acetylsalicylic acid has not been shown to increase the risk of TBLB-related bleeding		C	[8]
Clopidogrel has been associated with a significant increase in the frequency of clinically significant bleeding after TBLB	2	C	[35]

TBLB: transbronchial lung biopsy; EBB: endobronchial biopsy; LTX: lung transplant; BAL: bronchoalveolar lavage.