Listening to the internal sounds of the body, usually using a stethoscope
For the ancient monasterial worker, see
Auscultare
.
Sounds heard on auscultation of a healthy 16-year-old's heart while holding her breath, as heard with a
stethoscope
at the tricuspid valve
Auscultation
(based on the Latin verb
auscultare
"to listen") is listening to the internal sounds of the body, usually using a
stethoscope
. Auscultation is performed for the purposes of examining the
circulatory
and
respiratory systems
(
heart
and
breath sounds
), as well as the
alimentary canal
.
The term was introduced by
Rene Laennec
. The act of listening to body sounds for diagnostic purposes has its origin further back in history, possibly as early as Ancient Egypt. Auscultation and
palpation
go together in
physical examination
and are alike in that both have ancient roots, both require skill, and both are still important today. Laennec's contributions were refining the procedure, linking sounds with specific pathological changes in the chest, and inventing a suitable instrument (the stethoscope) to mediate between the patient's body and the clinician's ear.
Auscultation is a skill that requires substantial clinical experience, a fine stethoscope and good listening skills. Health professionals (doctors, nurses, etc.) listen to three main organs and organ systems during auscultation: the
heart
, the
lungs
, and the gastrointestinal system. When auscultating the heart, doctors listen for abnormal sounds, including
heart murmurs
, gallops, and other extra sounds coinciding with heartbeats.
Heart rate
is also noted. When listening to lungs, breath sounds such as
wheezes
, crepitations and crackles are identified. The gastrointestinal system is auscultated to note the presence of bowel sounds.
Electronic stethoscopes
can be recording devices, and can provide noise reduction and signal enhancement. This is helpful for purposes of
telemedicine
(remote diagnosis) and teaching. This opened the field to
computer-aided auscultation
.
Ultrasonography
(US) inherently provides capability for computer-aided auscultation, and portable US, especially portable
echocardiography
, replaces some stethoscope auscultation (especially in cardiology), although not nearly all of it (stethoscopes are still essential in basic checkups, listening to bowel sounds, and other primary care contexts).
Auscultogram
[
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]
The sounds of auscultation can be depicted using symbols to produce an auscultogram. It is used in cardiology training.
[1]
Phonocardiograms
(also known as auscultograms) of common
heart murmurs
.
Illustration from 1906 depicting a physician who has placed a Laennec wooden stethoscope between his left ear and the corseted patient's back to ausculate.
Mediate and immediate auscultation
[
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]
Laennec
auscultates a patient before his students.
Mediate auscultation is an antiquated medical term for listening (auscultation) to the internal sounds of the body using an instrument (mediate), usually a
stethoscope
. It is opposed to immediate auscultation, directly placing the ear on the body.
Doppler auscultation
[
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]
It was demonstrated in the 2000s that Doppler auscultation using a handheld
ultrasound transducer
enables the auscultation of valvular movements and blood flow sounds that are undetected during cardiac examination with a stethoscope. The Doppler auscultation presented a sensitivity of 84% for the detection of
aortic regurgitations
, while classic stethoscope auscultation presented a sensitivity of 58%. Moreover, Doppler auscultation was superior in the detection of impaired ventricular relaxation. Since the physics of Doppler auscultation and classic auscultation are different, it has been suggested that both methods could complement each other.
[2]
[3]
[
page needed
]
See also
[
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]
References
[
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]
External links
[
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]
Look up
auscultare
in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.