Study of Procedural Efficiency in EBUS With Dual Versus Single NEEDLEs: Evaluating the Value of a Second Needle in EBUS as it Pertains to Economic and Environmental Impact (SPEED NEEDLE)

October 15, 2025 updated by: Christopher Kapp

Are Two Needles Really Better Than One? A Time, Economic, and Environmental Evaluation of EBUS-TBNA

Currently, the EBUS bronchoscopy procedure uses either one or two needles to perform the biopsy of the lymph node based on physician preference. We want to determine the optimal number of needles to use for future EBUS bronchoscopy procedures like the one you are scheduled to have for your care and investigate the economic and environmental impact and time involved in using one versus two needles.

Study Overview

Status

Active, not recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Endobronchial Ultrasound (EBUS) is a mainstay of diagnostic bronchoscopy, as it is performed for mediastinal and hilar lymph node sampling for cancer staging, diagnosis of sarcoidosis, lymphoma, infection, and other disease processes. It is a procedure that is commonplace in all bronchoscopy suites across the world.

In our bronchoscopy suite, our current practice varies based on the bronchoscopist and number of lymph nodes requiring sampling in a procedure (can range from 1-5) as to whether one or two needles are utilized. The bronchoscopist may use two needles to save time when multiple lymph nodes must be biopsied or if an individual node needs to be biopsied several times to obtain more tissue for pathologic study.

EBUS needles are single use and there is one randomized trial (n=20 patients) that showed a decreased time of procedure in patients where two needles were used versus one (Khan et al., 2013). However, no data exist evaluating the economic impact (cost of needle versus endoscopy dollars saved) or environmental impact of using one versus two needles. This study will examine these factors to determine the optimal way to perform this procedure in the future, considering the procedure and anesthesia time, economic costs, and environmental costs.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

126

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

    • California
      • Sacramento, California, United States, 95817
        • University of California, Davis
    • Illinois
      • Chicago, Illinois, United States, 60611
        • Northwestern University
    • North Carolina
      • Durham, North Carolina, United States, 27710
        • Duke University

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Undergoing a bronchoscopy with lymph node sampling

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Unable to get a bronchoscopy procedure for various reasons
  • Other criteria per protocol uploaded

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Diagnostic
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Double

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: One EBUS Needle
Patients underwent a standard of care EBUS with one needle utilized in the procedure.
We randomized patients to the two arms above; there was no specific intervention performed other than randomizing patients to one or two needles.
Experimental: Two EBUS Needle
Patients underwent standard of care EBUS with two needles used.
We randomized patients to the two arms above; there was no specific intervention performed other than randomizing patients to one or two needles.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Time Under Anesthesia
Time Frame: During bronchoscopy procedure
During bronchoscopy procedure

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Collaborators

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

February 2, 2024

Primary Completion (Actual)

August 1, 2025

Study Completion (Estimated)

December 31, 2025

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

October 15, 2025

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

October 15, 2025

First Posted (Actual)

October 20, 2025

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

October 20, 2025

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

October 15, 2025

Last Verified

October 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Other Study ID Numbers

  • STU00220729

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

UNDECIDED

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

Yes

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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