If a bronchial alveolar lavage is needed, this takes a few minutes longer. After the procedure, the child is observed while the effect of sedation, numbing medicine wears off. This is usually around 30 minutes. The full recovery process takes around one hour. There are usually little or no side effects from the procedure.
Most children rapidly return to their baseline after the procedure is completed.
Since the mucosa lining the nose is very delicate, a nose bleed can occur. Usually this does not require any special treatment and usually stops spontaneously, If the child has stridor, it may temporarily get worse due to the effect of the medicines used for the procedure. A change in the voice or noisy breathing may occur but is also usually temporary. A mild fever may occur but is rare. Over the counter fever medicine can be given to treat this.