AUSCULTATION FINDINGS

SUMMARY

1. Normal - vesicular breath sounds.

2. Bronchial breath sounds - sound of turbulence in large airways heard during expiration without being filtered through the alveoli. Occurs in lung consolidation, pleural effusion and pulmonary fibrosis.

3. Amphoric breath sounds - breath sounds filtered through a large cavity. Occurs over pulmonectomy site, bullae.

4. Decreased (intensity) breath sounds - COPD, emphysema, atelectasis, CA, pleural effusion, pneumothorax.

5. Wheeze - inspiratory vs. expiratory vs. both. Monophonic (bronchial CA) vs. polyphonic (asthma, COPD).

6. Stridor - inspiratory wheeze-like sound over the trachea.

7. Crackles - caused by opening and closing of alveoli & small airways.

8. Pleural friction rub - pleurisy, malignancy.

Reference(s)

Wilkinson, I., Furmedge, D. and Sinharay, R. (2017). Oxford handbook of clinical medicine. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Get it on Amazon.
Feather, A., Randall, D. and Waterhouse, M. (2020). Kumar And Clark’s Clinical Medicine. 10th ed. S.L.: Elsevier Health Sciences. Get it on Amazon.
Hannaman, R. A., Bullock, L., Hatchell, C. A., & Yoffe, M. (2016). Internal medicine review core curriculum, 2017-2018. CO Springs, CO: MedStudy.
Therapeutic Guidelines. Melbourne: Therapeutic Guidelines Limited. https://www.tg.org.au [Accessed 2021].