|Sound||Description||Inspiration:Expiration(Sound Appreciation Ratio)||Normal Location|
|Bronchial/Tracheal||High Pitched, tubular||1:2||Over the trachea|
|Bronchovesicular||Medium Pitched, rustling||1:1||1 finger breadth para-sternal|
|Vesicular||Soft, Low Pitched||2:1 (especially in basal segments)||Peripheral Lung segments|
Location of Normal Breath Sounds
Audio Examples (courtesy of the University of Maryland at Baltimore via iTunes U )
Auscultation of the peripheral lung segments
- All lung segments should be auscultated on both sides.
- Stethoscope should be placed onto bare skin
- Instruct the patient to breathe through their mouth.
- Listen through one full breath cycle (inspiration and expiration) for each segment.
- Breath sounds should be identical from side to side
Lung Segments of the Posterior Chest Wall