Respiratory Examination Flashcards
Overall scheme
Introduce and handshake
Extremities
Inspect chest (front&back)
Palpate, percuss and auscultate the front and back of chest
Four steps to respiratory examination
Inspection
Palpation
Percussion
Auscultation
Things to note in the initial inspection
Cough Wheeze Stridor Laboured breathing Purse lipped breathing Nutritional state Paraphernalia
What do you look at on inspection
Face and skin Hands and feet Neck Expose chest fully -chest wall -breathing movements
Things to look for on the hands
Digital clubbing Tremor Warmth Oedema Tobacco stains Coal dust tattoos
What is the most common cause of clubbing
Lung cancer
What are respiratory causes of clubbing
Cancer
Fibrosing alveolitis
Bronchiectasis
Empyema
What is a flapping tremor associated with
Respiratory failure
What is a fine tremor associated with
Beta 2 agonists
What is a bounding pulse with warm peripheries a sign of
CO2 retention
What are you inspecting the face and neck for
Complexion, cyanosis Eyes Neck -JVP -Trachea (deviation? tug?)
When is JVP elevated
Peripheral oedema and raised JVP in cor pulmonale.
Fixed SVC obstruction
Is breathlessness a symptom or sign
Symptom
Is tachypnoea a symptom or sign
Sign
What causes central cyanosis
Arterial desaturation (low PaO2)
What causes peripheral cyanosis
Reaction to cold, poor perfusion, anxiety
What are signs of respiratory failure
Central and peripheral failure
Lung cancer and clubbing
Lung cancer until proven otherwise
What are you inspecting the chest wall for
Deformity, under and over inflation
Scars, radiotherapy changes, dilated veins, aspiration wounds.
What doesnt ever cause clubbing
COPD
What is flapping tremor a sign of
Liver failure
Things to look for in chest wall movement
Rate, rhymthm, prolonged expiration, movement patterns
Where is a sensitive place for central cyanosis
Bottom of the tongue