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Discussion

Difference between rhonchi and grunting?

Hi,

Okay, I am reviewing for NCLEX and I am drawing not only on the review book but thinking back to clinical situations. I was once with a nurse that when we did the respiratory assessment on one of the patients, you could hear a snoring sound. The nurse told me that's called grunting. This nurse is phenomenal, so that's probably what it was. But, I know I am looking at the different sounds in my book and it says for rhonchi it sounds like snoring. In addition, grunting isn't in there. I have seen it in charting before though. What's the difference between the two? I want to be accurate in my assessments, so that's why I ask. I know crackles and rales are the same. Are rhonchi and grunting the same?

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    I would basically say that I consider grunting audible without a stethoscope, rhochi audible with.

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    I would not sweat subtleties on the the NCLEX audio questions. The one that I had was like a first semester recording -- super clear and obvious.

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    I don't see how they could possibly be the same.

    Rhonchi is from secretions in the lungs, grunting is a form of breathing.

    My lungs are clear from rales and rhonchi, but I can still grunt.

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    Grunting is associated with involuntary vocalization during expiratory effort... frequently noted with COPD patients and infants with croup. Rhonchi are all those 'squeaks and bubbles' caused by junk in the bronchial tree - sometimes you can hear them without a stethoscope

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