Name: Jake Yvan G.

Dizon

Year level: BSN III

  Crackles (rales) are caused by excessive fluid (secretions) in the airways. It is caused by either an exudate or a transudate. Exudate is due
to lung infection e.g pneumonia while transudate such as congestive heart failure. A crackle occurs when a small airways pop’s open
during inspiration after collapsing due to loos esecretions or lack of aeration during expiration (atelectasis). Crackles are much more
common in inspiratory than in expiratory.
 Crackles are high-pitched and discontinuous. They sound like hair being rubbed together. There are three different types; fine, medium
and coarse.
 Fine are typically late inspiratory and coarse are usually early inspiratory
 Coarse crackles are louder, more low pitched and longer lasting. They indicate excessive fluid on the lungs which could be caused by
aspiration, pulmonary oedema from chronic heart disease, chronic bronchitis, pneumonia.
 Wheezes

Wheezes are an expiratory sound caused by forced airflow through collapsed airways. Due to the collapsed or abnormally narrow airway, the
velocity of air in the lungs is elevated. Wheezes are continuous high pitched hissing sounds. They are heard more frequently on expiration than
on inspiration. If they are monophonic it us due to an obstruction in one airway only but if they are polyphonic than the cause is a more general
obstruction of airways. Where the wheeze occurs in the respiratory cycle depends on the obstructions location, if wheezing occurs in the
expiratory phase of respiration it is usually connected to broncholiar disease. If the wheezing is in the inspiratory phase, it is an indicator of stiff
stenosis whose causes range from tumours to scarring. One of the main causes of wheezing is asthma other causes could be pulmonary edema,
interstitial lung disease and chronic bronchitis.

 Rhonchi

Rhonchi are caused by obstruction or secretions in the bronchial airways. They are coarse, continuous low pitched rattlings sounds that are
heard on inspiration and expiration that sound very much like snoring. They can be heard in patients with pneumonia, bronchiectasis, chronic
obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), chronic bronchitis or cystic fibrosis.

 Pleural Rub

Pleural Rub produces a creaking or brushing sound. These occur when the pleural surfaces are inflamed and as a result rub against one another.
They are heard during both inspiratory and expiratory phases of the lung cycle and can be both continuous and discontinuous. Pleural rub can
suggest pleurisy, pneumothorax or pleural effusion.