Adventitious Lung Sounds 🫁🩺

When learning about adventitious lung sounds, it’s important to understand the differences between the various types. For example, rhonchi are low-pitched, snoring-like sounds typically heard during expiration, often cleared with coughing. Wheezes, on the other hand, are high-pitched musical sounds caused by narrowed airways. Crackles can be fine or coarse and sound like popping or bubbling, usually heard on inspiration. I found it really useful to use a lung sounds chart alongside practice with an MPL sounds trainer app, which lets you hear different abnormal sounds repeatedly. Knowing where to listen on the chest is just as important: for example, listening to the upper lobes captures certain sounds better than the lower lobes. Also, pleural friction rubs are another adventitious sound worth noting—they have a rubbing or grating quality and are high-pitched, heard on both inspiration and expiration. In my experience, breaking down the sounds by pitch, timing (inspiration vs expiration), and character helps immensely with memorization. Using this cheat sheet during exams gave me a boost of confidence. Hope this helps fellow nursing students tackle lung sounds more easily!