18 Questions
What type of palpation is used to feel for pulses, tenderness, surface skin texture, temperature, and moisture?
Light palpation
What type of palpation is used to easily palpate body organs and masses, and note their size, consistency, and mobility?
Moderate palpation
Which type of palpation involves placing the dominant hand over the non-dominant hand to apply pressure and depress the skin 2.5 to 5 cm?
Deep palpation
What is the purpose of bimanual palpation?
To use both hands to palpate a body part
What is the purpose of percussion?
To tap two body parts to produce a sound
What is the purpose of eliciting pain during palpation?
To detect inflamed structures
Deep palpation involves depressing the skin no more than 1 meter with the dominant hand.
False
Bimanual palpation involves using one hand to apply pressure to feel very deep organs and structures.
False
Direct percussion involves tapping a body part with one or two fingers to elicit possible tenderness.
True
Blunt percussion is used to detect superficial masses within 2 cm deep.
False
Light palpation should result in a depression of 2-3 cm to feel for pulses and temperature.
False
Moderate palpation involves depressing the skin 2-3 cm with the non-dominant hand.
False
Using the bell during auscultation produces high pitched sounds such as murmurs and bruits.
False
Hyperresonance is a lung sound that is very loud, high pitched, and short.
False
Dullness is a lung sound that is soft, high pitched, and drum-like.
False
The purpose of validation is to create discrepancies or gaps between subjective and objective data.
False
One method of validation includes comparing objective findings with subjective findings to uncover discrepancies.
True
Flatness is a lung sound that is soft, high-pitched, and detected in muscle and bones.
True
Study Notes
Palpation
- Fingerpads are used for fine discrimination, feeling pulses, texture, size, consistency, and shape of an organ or structure.
- Ulnar or palmar surface is used to detect vibration, thrills, and fremitus.
- Dorsal surface is used to detect temperature.
Types of Palpation
- Light Palpation: no more than 1 meter of depression, used to feel for pulses, tenderness, surface skin texture, temperature, and moisture.
- Moderate Palpation: depress the skin 2-3 cm, used to palpate body organs and masses, noting size, consistency, and mobility.
- Deep Palpation: placing dominant hand over the non-dominant hand, resulting in a depression of 2.5 to 5 cm, used to feel very deep organs and structures.
- Bimanual Palpation: using two hands, placing each side of the body part.
Percussion
- Tapping two body parts to produce a sound, used to:
- Elicit pain and detect inflamed structures
- Determine location, shape, and size of an organ, noting changes between its border and neighboring organ
- Determine density (air or fluid) and detect abnormal masses within 5 cm deep
- Elicit reflexes, specifically deep tendon reflexes
Types of Percussion
- Direct Percussion: direct tapping of a body part with one or two fingers to elicit possible tenderness
- Blunt Percussion: used to detect tenderness over organs
Auscultation
- Uses a stethoscope to listen for heart sounds and movement of blood through the cardiovascular system
- Bell: low-pitched sounds, such as murmurs and bruits
- Diaphragm: breathe, bowel, and normal heart sounds
- Resonance: heard over parts with air and solid structures
- Intensity (loud), pitch (low), length (long) in normal lungs
- Hyperresonance: very loud, low-pitched, and long in lungs with emphysema
- Tympany: loud, high-pitched, and moderate, like a drum
- Dullness: medium intensity, moderate pitch, detected in diaphragm and pleural effusion, liver
- Flatness: soft, high-pitched, detected in muscle and bone
Validation
- Process of confirming and verifying subjective and objective data for reliability and accuracy
- Methods of validation:
- Rechecking own data through repeat assessments
- Clarifying data by asking additional questions
- Verifying data with another healthcare professional
- Comparing objective findings with subjective findings to uncover discrepancies
- Identifying areas with missing data
Learn about different palpation techniques used in physical examination, including fingerpads, ulnar/palmar, and dorsal surface palpation. Understand the purposes and methods of light, moderate, and deep palpation for assessing various aspects such as pulses, texture, temperature, and tenderness.
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