【Abstract】 Objective To explore diagnostic value of miRNA detection in virtual bronchoscopic navigation (VBN) lavage fluid for peripheral lung cancer. Methods 56 patients with peripheral lung cancer (disease group) and 56 patients with benign lung lesions (control group) who were treated in the department of respiratory and critical care medicine at CNPC Central hospital from June 2017 to June 2019 were selected as the study subjects. All of them completed VBN lavage fluid miRNA detection. The relative expression quantities of miRNA-21, miRNA-155 and miRNA-205 in lavage fluid were compared between the two groups. The relative expression quantities of miRNA-21, miRNA-155 and miRNA-205 in lavage fluid of patients with different pathological features in disease group were analyzed. The diagnostic value of miRNA detection in VBN lavage fluid for peripheral lung cancer was analyzed. Results Compared with control group, relative expression quantities of miRNA-21, miRNA-155 and miRNA-205 in VBN lavage fluid were significantly higher in disease group (P＜0.05). The relative expression quantities of miRNA-21, miRNA-155 and miRNA-205 in lavage fluid were significantly higher in patients with adenocarcinoma as histological typing, clinical staging at stage Ⅲ-Ⅳ and poor differentiation than the other groups (P＜0.05). ROC curve analysis indicated that areas under the curve (AUC) of miRNA-21, miRNA-155 and miRNA-205 in VBN lavage fluid for diagnosis of peripheral lung cancer were 0.988, 0.862 and 0.831, respectively. The sensitivity and specificity of miRNA-21 were the highest in diagnosis of peripheral lung cancer. Correlation analysis indicated that relative expression quantities of miRNA in VBN lavage fluid were significantly positively correlated with histological type (adenocarcinoma) and clinical stage of peripheral lung cancer, while significantly negatively correlated with differentiation degree (P＜0.05). Conclusion The detection of miRNA-21, miRNA-155 and miRNA-205 in VBN lavage fluid has high diagnostic value for peripheral lung cancer. The sensitivity and specificity of miRNA-21 in the diagnosis of peripheral lung cancer were the highest. The detection of the three is helpful for the differential diagnosis of histological classification, clinical stage and differentiation degree of peripheral lung cancer, and provides reference for early diagnosis and treatment of patients.