Search strategy and initial review
The authors performed a systematic search of the two databases: PubMed
and EMBASE (2004–2017) to identify the relevant studies on
EBUS-TBNA/EUS-B-FNA in children (<18 years). The following
free text search terms were used: (ebus OR ebus-tbna OR ebus tbna OR
tbna OR endobronchial ultrasound OR endobronchial Ultrasonography OR
endobronchial ultrasound-guided OR endobronchial ultrasound-guided OR
tbna OR eus b fna) AND (pediatric OR pediatric OR child OR children).
The authors also reviewed their personal files to identify relevant
studies. All the retrieved references were imported into reference
management software (EndNote). Duplicate references were removed.
References were screened through the title and abstracts. The reference
lists of the extracted studies were reviewed. The finally retrieved
studies were independently screened by two authors (HI and KM). Full
texts of the relevant articles were obtained. The following types of
studies were excluded – (a) studies that did not report the utilization
of either EBUS-TBNA/EUS-B-FNA or were not related to paediatrics (b)
studies describing the use of conventional TBNA for mediastinal lesions
in children (c) studies not in the English language (d) review articles,
editorials and letters without any case description. Any disagreement
between the authors was resolved after mutual discussion. The systematic
review methodology is summarized in Figure 1.