History of Percussion

Ας υποθέσουμε ότι η τύπισσα κάμνει το σωστά.

Percussion :

Percussion is a method of tapping on a surface to determine the underlying structure, and is used in clinical examinations to assess the condition of the thorax or abdomen. It is one of the four methods of clinical examination, together with inspection, palpation and auscultation. It is done with the middle finger of the right hand tapping on the middle finger of the left hand, which is placed firmly on the body.

There are four types of percussion sounds: resonant, hyper-resonant, stony dull or dull. A dull sound indicates the presence of a solid mass under the surface, e.g. liver.  A more resonant sound indicates hollow, air-containing structures e.g. lung and gut.

Και τώρα το ενδιαφέρων μέρος της υπόθεσης:

Percussion was initially used to distinguish between empty and filled barrels of liquor, and Dr. Leopold Auenbrugger introduced the technique to medicine.

Auenbrugger was a native of Graz in Styria, an Austrian province. His father, a hotel keeper, gave his son every opportunity for an excellent preliminary education in his native town and then sent him to Vienna to complete his studies at the university. Auenbrugger was graduated as a physician at the age of 22 and then entered the Spanish Military Hospital of Vienna, where he spent 10 years.

He found out that, by tapping lightly on the chest, one could assess the texture of underlying tissues and organs. This technique had its origins in testing the level of wine casks in the cellar of his father's hotel. With this method, he was able to plot outlines of the heart. It was the first time that a physician could relatively accurately and objectively determine an important sign of diseases. He published his findings in a booklet, but nobody paid much attention to it. The value of percussion in physical examination was later recognized by Jean-Nicolas Corvisart, who popularized it teaching it to his students in France, and by Josef Skoda in Vienna.

During his ten years of patient study, Auenbrugger confirmed his observations on the diagnostic value of percussion by comparison with post-mortem specimens, and besides made a number of experimental researches on dead bodies. He injected fluid into the pleural cavity, and showed that it was perfectly possible by percussion to tell exactly the limits of the fluid present, and thus to decide when and where efforts should be made for its removal.