Basilar crackles are present in a client’s lungs on auscultation. The nurse knows that these are discrete, non continuous sounds that are:
A. Caused by the sudden opening of alveoli.
B. Usually more prominent during expiration.
C. Produced by airflow across passages narrowed by secretions.
D. Found primarily in the pleura.
Correct Answer: A. Caused by the sudden opening of alveoli
Basilar crackles are usually heard during inspiration and are caused by sudden opening of the alveoli. Basilar crackles are a bubbling or crackling sound originating from the base of the lungs. They may occur when the lungs inflate or deflate. They’re usually brief, and may be described as sounding wet or dry. Excess fluid in the airways causes these sounds.
Option B: Bronchial sounds (also called tubular sounds) normally arise from the tracheobronchial tree and vesicular sounds normally arise from the finer lung parenchyma. Loud, harsh, and high pitched bronchial sounds are typically heard over the trachea or at the right apex. They are predominantly heard during expiration.
Option C: Wheezes are musical sounds caused by air movement through constricted small airways, such as bronchioles. Wheezes and rhonchi, which have the same pathology and are separated only by pitch, are produced by the fluttering of narrowed airways and the air that flows through them.
Option D: Fluid or air in the pleural space deflects sound waves away from the chest wall back into the lung and therefore breath sounds are reduced in intensity.
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