auscultation
Last reviewed 01/2018
Auscultation of the chest should be performed in the following manner:
- ask patient to cough up any sputum before listening
- use the diaphragm of the stethoscope and consider the surface anatomy of the lungs
- ask the patient to breath deeply through the mouth
- listen at top, middle and bottom of both sides of the chest at the front and back and then in the axilla
- assess the character of the breath sounds
- assess the vocal resonance