Auscultation Of Veins And Arteries – What Does It Matter

The term auscultation is a translation of the Latin word and refers to the act of interrogation. Auscultation of the veins and arteries therefore consists in listening to different sounds coming from these blood vessels with specific devices in order to facilitate the diagnosis of various pathologies.

In short, auscultation is a method of clinical research that aims to evaluate various physical phenomena in the body. This can be done by directly pressing the ear or by using a stethoscope or phonendoscope.

The research uses auscultation of many parts of the human body, such as the heart, respiratory or digestive system. In this article, however, we will discuss auscultation of veins and arteries.

Auscultation of the veins

The veins are the blood vessels that conduct blood from the capillaries to the heart. Usually they carry impurities from the cells and CO2, carbon dioxide. The arteries, on the other hand, carry oxygenated blood.

The pulmonary arteries carry oxygenated blood from the lungs to the cavities on the left side of the heart. When inflated, this organ pumps blood to the rest of the body through the aortic artery and the umbilical veins.

Normally, there are no noticeable acoustic phenomena in the veins. However, in some situations, murmur or noise may be observed in the jugular veins.

This is the case, for example, with anemia, a pathological situation where the blood does not carry enough oxygen and where there is a deficiency of iron in the blood. These noises are distinguished by the continuity of the phenomenon. When there is interruption, it is not rhythmic and can be judged precisely by auscultation of the veins and arteries.

Why is it important to identify venous sounds by auscultating the veins?

The disruption of blood flow through pressure causes the venous sounds to disappear. However, moderate pressure with a stethoscope that reduces the size of the vein does amplify these noises.

Finally, it should be noted that intermittent sounds occur while the patient is breathing and thus promote blood flow.

Auscultation of the arteries

Arteries are also blood vessels. However, they differ from veins because they carry blood from the heart to different tissues in the body, while veins do so in the opposite direction, as we saw above. Consequently, the function of the arteries is opposite to that of the veins, as they carry oxygenated and nutrient-rich blood to all cells in the body.

With regard to auscultation of the arteries, with the exception of the aortic, pulmonary, carotid and subclavian arteries, there are no or insignificant acoustic phenomena in the arteries. However, using a device called a sigmaphone, it was possible to catch the pulse of small arteries, such as a radial artery, audible to the human ear.

The sounds of great arteries

While sounds are not usually heard in most arteries, they can nevertheless be heard in large arteries, which include the following:

• Aorta
• Pulmonary artery
• Cervical arteries
• Subclavian artery

  Only the large arteries produce the loudest noises heard when auscultation of the veins and arteries.

We hear three types of sounds in these arteries:

• Heart sounds: These are usually the sounds of the opening of the aorta. Most often they are systolic or systolic sounds because diastolic or diastolic sounds propagate in the opposite direction to the arterial movement of blood. Therefore, the latter are neither heard nor hard to hear.
• Noises made in the same artery: These sounds are always isochronous with the pulse. They are produced by a large increase in blood pressure in cases of left ventricular hypertrophy, or by excessive activity of the heart. The sound that can be heard at fontanel level in young children is noise of the same origin.
• Stethoscope or phonendoscope pressure: This type of pressure reduces the size of the vessel and causes the fluid vein to contract. With pressure, isochronous noise arises. If the pressure reduces the lumen of the vessel completely, all natural or artificial noise disappears.

In short, auscultation of veins and arteries is one of the many medical tools for detecting abnormalities in our body. It is therefore a primary diagnostic mechanism that is very effective under certain circumstances.