Test: Lung auscultation

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Background/Purpose

Auscultation of the lung is an important part of the respiratory examination and is helpful in diagnosing various respiratory disorders. Auscultation assesses airflow through the trachea-bronchial tree. It is important to distinguish normal respiratory sounds from abnormal ones for example crackles, wheezes, and pleural rub in order to make correct diagnosis. It is necessary to understand the underlying pathophysiology of various lung sounds generation for better understanding of disease processes.

Procedure

Auscultation should be done in a quiet room, preferably in a sitting position. If the patient cannot assume sitting posture, roll the patient from one side to the other to examine the back.

Always warm up the cold stethoscope by rubbing the chest piece in your hands before placing it on naked body. Auscultation should never be done through the clothing.

Ask the patient to take deep breaths through the open mouth.

Using the diaphragm of the stethoscope, start auscultation anteriorly at the apices, and move downward till no breath sound is appreciated. Next, listen to the back, starting at the apices and moving downward. At least one complete respiratory cycle should be heard at each site.

Always compare symmetrical points on each side.

Listen for the quality of the breath sounds, the intensity of the breath sounds, and the presence of adventitious sounds.
Performed: Unilaterally

Dialog

Auscultation of lung breath sounds using a stethoscope.

Criteria

• Soft, low pitched, and rustling in quality
• Inspiratory phase lasts longer than the expiratory phase with an inspiratory-expiratory ratio (I:E) of about 2:1 during tidal breathing
• Intensity of inspiration is greater than that of expiration
• Inspiration is higher pitch than expiration

Measurement

LOINC Code

Scale/Grading

selection range; grade - LOINC ID
Option - Value option selection range; grade - LOINC IDPass ; Pass - Fail ; Fail -