Compression breathing

Lung auscultation was already performed by Hippocrates by placing his ear on the patient's chest. Established auscultation was introduced in the early 19th century by Laennec, who initially used rolled paper and later a wooden cylinder (Bürgi 2015).

Compression breathing is an increased breathing noise that can occur when lung tissue is compressed above a pleural effusion (Koehler 2016).

The respiratory sound is amplified because reflection at phase transitions can occur less, as is the case, for example, when alveoli and airways are filled with fluid. As soon as sound conduction improves, as is the case with infiltration in pneumonia , for example, higher frequencies are transmitted to the periphery. This phenomenon is known as "bronchial breathing". The frequency spectrum lies between approx. 600 Hz (Koehler 2016) and 4,000 Hz. It can be auscultated in- and expiratory (Holldack 2005). When this bronchial breathing occurs over compressed lung tissue in a pleural effusion, it is referred to as "compression breathing" (Koehler 2016).

Compression breathing is caused by compression of the lungs, which involves a reduction in the air content. This in turn improves the conductivity for high frequencies and results in a so-called "amplified breath sound" (Gahl 2005).

At the sites of compression breathing, the bronchophony is simultaneously amplified (Gahl 2005).

Above an effusion there is often a so-called compression breath (Herold 2021), while further below the effusion the breath sound is weakened (Gahl 2005).

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