Technical Terms - Respiratory Examination

 

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Technical Terms - Respiratory Examination

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🪞 Inspection Terms

Term	Explanation
Tachypnea	Breathing faster than normal (adult >20 breaths/min)
Bradypnea	Breathing slower than normal (adult <12 breaths/min)
Dyspnea	Difficulty in breathing; patient may feel breathless
Orthopnea	Difficulty breathing when lying flat (common in heart failure)
Accessory muscles	Muscles not normally used in breathing (e.g., neck muscles) — used when breathing becomes difficult
Nasal flaring	Widening of the nostrils while breathing — sign of respiratory distress
Barrel-shaped chest	Rounded, bulging chest seen in long-term COPD
Pectus carinatum	Outward protrusion of the chest (pigeon chest)
Pectus excavatum	Sunken chest (funnel chest)
Scoliosis	Sideways curvature of the spine
Kyphosis	Forward hunching of the upper back

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✋ Palpation Terms

Term	Explanation
Tracheal deviation	Displacement of the trachea from the midline — suggests lung pathology
Apex beat	The point of maximal impulse (PMI) of the heart, felt in the 5th intercostal space
Chest expansion	The movement of the chest wall during deep breathing; decreased movement may indicate lung disease
Vocal fremitus	Vibrations felt on the chest wall when the patient speaks — reduced in fluid/air-filled lungs

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🫳 Percussion Terms

Term	Explanation
Percussion	Tapping the chest with fingers to assess underlying structures
Pleximeter	The finger placed on the patient’s chest while percussing
Plexor	The finger used to tap on the pleximeter
Resonant note	Normal sound heard over air-filled lungs — low-pitched and hollow
Dull note	Thud-like sound over fluid or solid structures (e.g., consolidation or effusion)
Hyperresonant note	Louder, lower-pitched sound heard over extra air (e.g., pneumothorax)
Stony dullness	Extremely dull sound, like tapping on a wall — seen in pleural effusion

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🎧 Auscultation Terms

Term	Explanation
Stethoscope diaphragm	The flat side of the stethoscope used to listen to high-pitched sounds like breath sounds
Vesicular breath sound	Normal soft rustling sound heard during breathing over healthy lung tissue
Bronchial breath sound	Loud, harsh, hollow sound — normally heard over the trachea but abnormal if heard over lung fields (suggests consolidation)
Crackles (rales)	Popping or bubbling sounds, like Velcro — indicates fluid in lungs (e.g., pneumonia, fibrosis)
Fine crackles	Short, high-pitched crackles (pulmonary fibrosis)
Coarse crackles	Longer, low-pitched crackles (bronchiectasis)
Wheeze	High-pitched, musical sound due to narrowed airways (e.g., asthma)
Rhonchi	Low-pitched, snoring sounds due to mucus in large airways (e.g., COPD)
Pleural rub	Creaking or grating sound — like walking on snow — caused by inflamed pleura rubbing against each other
Vocal resonance	Sound of spoken words heard through a stethoscope — increased in solid lung (e.g., consolidation), decreased in fluid or air-filled lung (e.g., effusion, pneumothorax)

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🫁 Common Pathological Conditions

Term	Explanation
Consolidation	Lung tissue filled with fluid or pus — common in pneumonia
Pleural effusion	Accumulation of fluid in the pleural space between the lungs and chest wall
Pneumothorax	Air in the pleural space causing lung collapse
Fibrosis	Thickening or scarring of lung tissue — reduces elasticity
COPD	Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease — long-term lung damage (e.g., chronic bronchitis, emphysema)
Bronchiectasis	Permanent dilation and damage to the airways due to infection/inflammation

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