Life-Threatening Airway Obstruction Due to Endobronchial Blood Clot Following Endobronchial Ultrasound-Guided Transbronchial Needle Aspiration (EBUS-TBNA) in a Patient With Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma

Endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration (EBUS-TBNA) is a widely used minimally invasive procedure for mediastinal lymph node sampling. Complications are infrequent, and life-threatening airway obstruction due to post-procedural intrabronchial blood clot formation is extremely rare. We report the case of a 76-year-old woman with metastatic clear cell renal cell carcinoma (RCC) who went into cardiorespiratory arrest immediately after the procedure. Bronchoscopic removal of a large blood clot, which had occluded the left main bronchus, resulted in rapid clinical improvement. This case highlights the importance of prompt recognition and multidisciplinary management of this rare but critical complication.