Abstract:
The objectives of the present study are: to determine how residents and interns in a university hospital use clinical thoracic examination and lung sounds, comparing the terms they use in chest auscultation to international standard terminology; with a review of 712 records of patients hospitalized in the internal medicine Ward at Lauro Wanderley Hospital (LWH). Federal University in Paraiba, Brazil. A complete thoracic examination was recorded in only 2,4% of cases , thoracic inspection was included in 24% palpation in 9,9%, and percussion in 2,8% while lung auscultation, was recorded in 99,6% of cases. No records used the simplified nomenclature of contínuos/discontinuous sounds, nor was there mention of certain older terms like bronchial breathing, bronchophony, and pleural friction. These data indicate the exclusive valorization of lung auscultation in clinical thoracic examination and suggest that recent terminological modifications have not reached the clinical practice of medical residents and interns at this teaching hospital.
Key words:
Education, Medical; Medical examination