auscultation
Sign in to saveAuscultation (based on the Latin verb auscultare "to listen") is listening to the internal sounds of the body, usually using a stethoscope. Auscultation is performed for the purposes of examining the circulatory and respiratory systems (heart and breath sounds), as well as the alimentary canal.
Key facts
- Interventions.Name
- Auscultation
- Interventions.Image
- Standardized-Patient-Program-examining-t he-abdomen.jpg
- Interventions.Caption
- A doctor auscultating a patient's abdomen
- Interventions.MeshID
- D001314
- Interventions.MedlinePlus
- 002226
via Wikipedia infobox
Research
13,773 papers- [Lung auscultation in the 21th century].Revista chilena de pediatria · 2020
- Lung auscultation - today and tomorrow- a narrative review.Expert review of respiratory medicine · 2025
- Auscultation in Neurology - A Clinical Review for a Neurophysician.Neurology India · 2025
- Auscultation of the heart: The Basics with Anatomical Correlation.Clinical anatomy (New York, N.Y.) · 2017
- [Lung auscultation--an overview].Deutsche medizinische Wochenschrift (1946) · 2015
via PubMed
Article
6 sectionsContents
- Auscultogram
- Mediate and immediate auscultation
- Doppler auscultation
- See also
- References
- External links
Auscultation (based on the Latin verb auscultare "to listen") is listening to the internal sounds of the body, usually using a stethoscope. Auscultation is performed for the purposes of examining the circulatory and respiratory systems (heart and breath sounds), as well as the alimentary canal.
The term was introduced by René Laennec. The act of listening to body sounds for diagnostic purposes has its origin further back in history, possibly as early as Ancient Egypt. Auscultation and palpation go together in physical examination and are alike in that both have ancient roots, both require skill, and both are still important today. Laënnec's contributions were refining the procedure, linking sounds with specific pathological changes in the chest, and inventing a suitable instrument (the stethoscope) to mediate between the patient's body and the clinician's ear.