Lower Respiratory Exam Flashcards
Physical exam-Basic steps?
- Inspection
- Palpation
- Percussion
- Auscultation
History
-Chief complaints
Cough, hemoptysis, dyspnea, wheezing, edema
History
-Dyspnea-conversional?
Patient gives short answers when talking
PMH
Asthma, chronic bronchitis, heart failure
PMH
-Chronic bronchitis criteria?
Cough more in the morning for at least 3 months out of the year
Social history
Illicit drug use, alcohol, smoking history
Social history
-Smoking history-Pack years=?
packs per day x years
Occupation
- Farmer, wood worker, mining
- Exposure to asbestos, duct-vents cleaning
Exposure to asbestos can cause?
Mesothelioma
The Physical examination
- Sitting position and breathing pattern
- Use of accessory muscles
- Color of fingers and lips
- Shape of nails
- Breathing through pursed lips
- Ability to speak
- Chest/spinal deformities
- Is the trachea in the midline?
- Chest excursion
- Tactile fremitus
- Percussion
- Lung sounds
- Lymphadenopathy***(what did he say about this?)
Nail clubbing is indicative of?
- Hypoxia
- Interstitial lung disease, cystic?, interstitial pulmonary fibrosis, bronchiectasis, lung disease
- Cardiovascular problems
When a patient is hypoxic, what is the appearance of their lips?
Cyanotic lips and pursed breathing
Inspection
- Shape
- Color
- Hair distribution
- Landmarks
- Respiration rate and pattern
- Respiratory ribs movement
Inspection
-Shape?
- pectus carinatum, pectus excavatum
- Barrel chested-COPD
Inspection
Respiration rate and pattern
Intercostal retraction - respiratory distress
Palpation
- Palpate thoracic muscles
- Evaluate thoracic cage expansion
- Palpate T-spine/evaluate ribs motion
- Evaluate the tactile fremitus
- Evaluate the trachea
Palpation
-Tactile fremitus is increased in?
Pneumonia, consolidation of lung tissue
Palpation
-Tactile fremitus-Decreased in?
COPD, tumor, pleural effusion, pneumothorax
Tactile fremitus
-How do you palpate this?
- The patient says “99” while the doctor’s hands are placed along the posterior lateral thorax
- With lung consolidation there should be a palpably more pronounced vibration on the side of the consolidation
Egophony
When patient says the letter E it sounds more like Ayyy
Broncophony
Spoken words become louder and clearer
Whisperred pectoriloquoy
Loud whispers
Percussion
- Listen for abnormal sounds
- Symmetry
Percussion-Dull sound?
- Over fluid
- Solid tissue
Percussion
-Hyperresonance?
- COPD
- Pneumothorax
Percussion of the chest
- Diaphragmatic excursion?
- Normal?
- Determine the distance between the level of dullness on full expiration and the level of dullness on full inspiration by progressive percussion down from resonance (lung parenchyma) to dullness (structures below diaphragm)
- Normal-3-5.5
Auscultation of the chest-sounds
- Bronchial
- where are they located?
- Characteristics?
- Over the trachea
- Coarse, loud and long expirations
Auscultation of the chest-sounds
- Bronchovesicular
- where are they located?
- Characteristics?
- Over the right and left mainstem bronchus
- Medium pitch
- Expiration equals inspiration
Auscultation of the chest-sounds
- Vesicular
- where are they located?
- Characteristics?
- Lung fields
- Soft and low pitched
Abnormal sounds
- Crackles: fine and coarse
- Wheezes
- Pleural friction rub
- Rhonchi