Rales Lung Sounds Biography
(Source google.com)
Respiratory sounds, breath
sounds, or lung sounds refer to the specific sounds generated by the movement
of air through the respiratory system. These may be easily audible or
identified through auscultation of the respiratory system through the lung fields.
with a stethoscope. These include normal breath sounds and adventitious or
"added" sounds such as crackles, wheezes, pleural friction rubs,
stertor and stridor. Description and classification of
the sounds usually involves auscultation of the inspiratory and expiratory
phases of the breath cycle, noting both the pitch (typically described as low,
medium or high) and intensity (soft, medium, loud or very loud) of the sounds
heard. "Rhonchi" and "rales" are obsolete terminology whose
use in the literature has been variable. The terms wheeze and crepitation have
replaced them. Vesicular - heard over most of the lungs. Often described as
similar to a soft rustle (of leaves).
The inspiratory sounds are faster and
louder and longer than expiratory sounds. The expiratory intensity is soft and
the pitch is low die away after the first third of the expiratory phase.
Bronchovesicular - heard over the 1st and 2nd intercostal spaces and the
interscapular area. The inspiratory and expiratory phases are roughly equal in length. Bronchial - may be normally heard
over the manubrium. Expiratory phase is greater than inspiratory. The
expiratory pitch is high and intensity is loud. Tracheal - heard directly over
the trachea. Inspiratory phase equals the expiratory phase. The sound is very
loud and the pitch very high. Breath sounds are divided into
two categories: normal and abnormal (adventitious). These sounds come from the
lungs when you breathe in or breathe out. These sounds can be heard using a
stethoscope or simply when breathing. Breath sounds can indicate
problems within the lungs such as obstructions, inflammation, or infection. An
abnormal breath sound can indicate fluid in the lungs orasthma. Breath sounds
are an important part of diagnosing many different medical conditions.
What was once called rhonchi are
now called a sonorous wheeze, and this is because they have a snoring, gurgling
quality to them. Rhonchi are often a low-pitched moan that is more prominent on
exhalation. It differs from wheezes in that wheezes are high and squeaky while
these are low and dull. Rhonchi are caused by blockages to the main airways by
mucous, lesions, or foreign bodies. Pneumonia, chronic bronchitis, and cystic
fibrosis are patient populations that commonly present with rhonchi. Coughing
can sometimes clear this breath sound and make it change to a different sound.
Crackles are the sounds you will hear in a lung field that has fluid in the
small airways or if atelectasis is present. As stated before, crackles and
rales are the same thing, and this can often lead to confusion among health
care providers. Crackles come in two flavours: fine and coarse. Fine crackles
sound like salt heated on a frying pan or the sound of rolling your hair
between your fingers next to your ear. Coarse crackles sound like pouring water
out of a bottle or like ripping open Velcro. This lung sound is often a sign of
adult respiratory distress syndrome, early congestive heart failure, asthma,
and pulmonary edema.
Wheezes and rhonchi are actually
very closely related. They are so closely related that the terminology for them
has changed, too. Wheezes are now known as sibilant wheezes to distinguish them
from rhonchi. Sibilant wheezes are high-pitched and shrill sounding breath
sounds that occur when the airway becomes narrowed. They often have a musical
quality to them. These are the typical wheezes heard when listening to an
asthmatic patient. Sibilant wheezes are caused by asthma, congestive heart
failure, chronic bronchitis, and COPD. Stridor is an unusual sound that not
many adult patients will have, but it bears mentioning. It is a high-pitched,
musical sound that is heard over the upper airway. It usually indicated a
foreign body obstruction of the larger airways, such as the trachea or a main
bronchus, and requires immediate attention. It is also the most common type of
breath sound heard in children with croup, though it is important to
differentiate between croup and a foreign body airway obstruction. A pleural
friction rub is caused by the inflammation of the visceral and parietal
pleurae. These membranes are usually coated in a protective fluid, but when
inflamed, they stick together and make a sound like leather creaking against
itself. It often causes a great deal of pain, and the patient will splint their
chest and resist breathing deeply to help mitigate the pain. A pericardial rub
and a pleural rub will often sound similar, and the best way to distinguish
between the two is to make the patient hold their breath. If you still hear the
rubbing sound, then the patient has a pericardial rub and requires different
treatment. Pleural effusion and pneumothorax are two diagnoses that can cause a
pleural friction rub.
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