Percussion

Founders Of Modern Medicine

Leopold Auenbrugger invented Percussion as a Diagnostic technique

1761: New technique in the analysis of patients internal conditions

Story Of Percussion

Wine Barrels 

Story has it, that the observation leading to the discovery of 'Percussion’ by Auengbrugger started as earlier as the age of seven. His father was a wine seller in Vienna Austria and during his youth.

Leopold Auengbrugger helped his father in the wine trade.

 During this period, he had the opportunity of tapping barrels of wine and noted that the tone emitted was high-pitched or dull when they were full and low pitched and resonant when they were empty,

Tone: High Pitched or Dull when they were full.

 Low pitched and resonant when they were empty.

When the barrel is half-full he could tell where the fluid level was by the change in the tapping sound. 

When Auengbrugger became a physician he applied the same technique to detect the condition of the chest.

                                                            Wine Barrels To Chest

Low Pitch and Resonant: Wine Barrell Empty 

High Pitch and Dull: Wine Barrell Full

Low pitch and Resonant: Normal Healthy Lungs (Empty Wine Barrell)

High pitched and Dull: Pleural Effusion or Lobar Pneumonia (Wine Barrel Full)

Lung:

Resonant On Percussion: Healthy Lung 

Decreased Resonance: Diseased Lung 

Diseased Lung with decreased resonance: Pneumonia, Tumour and Atelectasis

Dot the i and Cross the T

Listening To The Inner voice