Cardiac Percussion

Many components of the physical assessment performed by a doctor have been replaced with modernized tests involving mechanical equipment. However, according to the Mayo Clinic, cardiac percussion remains a frequently used technique to assist cardiologists in the diagnosis of certain heart and lung conditions that may require more intense diagnostic procedures.

History

• The Society of Hospital Medicine reports that the percussion technique was invented by Josef Leopold Auenbrugger in 1754. The Viennese trained physician was the son of an innkeeper, and as a child, tapped his father's wine barrels to try to determine how full they were. When he invented the technique of cardiac percussion, he first practiced on cadavers by filling the pleural cavities with fluid and comparing the difference in sound to that of cadavers with normal pleural cavities.

Function

• According to the Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, the technique of cardiac percussion is performed on the right side of the chest at the third, fourth, and fifth intercostal spaces (between the rib bones). The examiner places two fingers in each of these spaces and taps them with the index and middle finger of the opposite hand. The motion should be firm and precise and come from the wrist.

Significance

• If there are no areas of fluid buildup, a clear resonance should be heard over lung tissues. According to the U.S. National Library of Medicine, areas of dullness may indicate cardiomegaly (enlargement of the heart) or pericardial effusion (buildup of fluid in the fibrous membrane surrounding the heart).