The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) Updated Guidance on Endobronchial Valves: What Was Behind the Decision and What Does it Mean for Pulmonologists?

In December 2017, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) updated its interventional procedures guidance, titled ‘Endobronchial valve insertion to reduce lung volume in emphysema’,1 to support the routine use of endobronchial valve therapy for emphysema. The NICE guidance states: ‘Current evidence on the safety and efficacy of endobronchial valve insertion to reduce lung volume in emphysema is adequate in quantity and quality to support the use of this procedure provided that standard arrangements are in place for clinical governance, consent and audit.’ NICE is the latest organisation to include endobronchial valves in its chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) treatment pathway, following the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) strategy report for the diagnosis, management, and prevention of COPD;2 the German Society for Pneumology and Respiratory Medicine (DGP) guidance;3 and the Australian and New Zealand guidelines for the management of COPD;4 however, what does this mean to us as respiratory physicians?