MRCP UK EXAMINATIONS

Detailed explanation-1: -Normal: The lung is filled with air (99% of lung is air). Hence, percussion of it gives a resonance.

Detailed explanation-2: -Since lungs are mostly filled with air that we breathe in, percussion performed over most of the lung area produces a resonant sound, which is a low pitched, hollow sound. Therefore, any dullness or hyper-resonance is indicative of lung pathology, such as pleural effusion or pneumothorax, respectively.

Detailed explanation-3: -Resonance is the normal sound heard when percussing the lungs because they are filled with air rather than dense tissue. However, it may be more of a dull or flat sound if a client has adipose tissue or a muscular chest, because this increased density modifies the sound.

Detailed explanation-4: -There are three main medical percussion sounds: resonance (heard over lungs), tympany (heard over the air-filled bowel loops), and dullness (heard over fluid or solid organs).

Detailed explanation-5: -The lung is an air-filled organ, so the normal percussion note over the lungs of older children, adolescents, and adults is resonance, which is a low-pitched and hollow sound. With very young children under the age of about 5, you will hear a lower-pitch and booming sound (this is described as hyperresonance).