Corpus: Auscultation

Auscultation is a basic physical examination used to assess body sounds by listening with the examiner's ear.

Auscultation can be performed directly by placing the ear on the patient’s body or indirectly using a stethoscope or an ear trumpet. In a broader sense, electronic devices that record and amplify body sounds also fall under auscultation.

Direct auscultation, where the ear is placed on the body, has been practiced since ancient times. Indirect auscultation as a standard method was introduced by the French physician René Laënnec (1781–1826), who invented the stethoscope in 1819. Laënnec, who served as Napoleon I Bonaparte’s personal physician, initially used a rolled-up paper tube before developing the wooden stethoscope.

• Pulmonary auscultation – Evaluation of breath sounds and abnormal respiratory noises (e.g., rales).
• Cardiac auscultation – Assessment of heart sounds and murmurs.
• Abdominal auscultation – Detection of bowel sounds and, in pregnant women, fetal heart tones.
• Scratch auscultation – A technique used to localize structures within the body.
• Other forms – For example, auscultation of the carotid arteries to detect bruits indicating vascular disease.