Percussion of the chest re-visited: a comparison of the diagnostic value of ausculatory and conventional chest percussion.

ERCUSSION of the chest is thought to be insensitive in detecting small or deeply situated chest lesions. A newer technique, ausculatory percussion, has been reported as having a far higher sensitivity. In a controlled blind study the diagnostic value of conventional chest percussion compared with ausculatory percussion was defined using the chest x-ray as a gold standard. The prevalence of disease in 100 lung fields was 26%.