Vesicular sounds are soft, blowing, or rustling sounds normally heard throughout most of the lung fields. Bronchovesicular sounds are about equal during inspiration and expiration differences in pitch and intensity are often more easily detected during expiration. Bronchovesicular sounds are softer than bronchial sounds, but have a tubular quality.

Bronchial sounds are loud and high in pitch with a short pause between inspiration and expiration expiratory sounds last longer than inspiratory sounds.Ĭlick here to view a brief and useful breath sounds video on YouTube presented by Bronchovesicular sounds are heard in the posterior chest between the scapulae and in the center part of the anterior chest. These sounds are harsh and sound like air is being blown through a pipe.īronchial sounds are present over the large airways in the anterior chest near the second and third intercostal spaces these sounds are more tubular and hollow-sounding than vesicular sounds, but not as harsh as tracheal breath sounds. Tracheal breath sounds are heard over the trachea.

timing (when the sound occurs in the respiratory cycle).

pitch (how high or low the sound is), and.

In addition to their location, breath sounds are described by: The patterns of normal breath sounds are created by the effect of body structures on air moving through airways. Normal breath sounds are classified as tracheal, bronchial, bronchovesicular, and vesicular sounds.

Lung sound locations