Which sounds are described as examples to note during airway assessment?

Which sounds are described as examples to note during airway assessment?

• A. Snoring, gurgling, or stridor
• B. Wheezing
• C. Coughing loudly
• D. Silent chest

Answer: (A)

In airway assessment, you listen for sounds that reveal where the airway is compromised. Snoring, gurgling, and stridor are classic indicators of partial or potential obstruction: snoring comes from soft tissue vibrating when the airway is partially blocked by relaxed tongue or pharyngeal tissues; gurgling signals secretions or fluid pooling in the airway that need clearing; stridor is a high-pitched noise from turbulent flow through a narrowed upper airway, often due to edema, injury, or foreign body. Each of these sounds points to an airway that may require immediate management to restore patency, such as airway maneuvers, suctioning, or advanced airway intervention. By contrast, wheezing suggests lower airway constriction, coughing loudly is a non-specific airway irritation, and a silent chest indicates a severe, possibly life-threatening lack of air movement rather than a discernible sound to note—so the first set best fits the airway-assessment focus.

In airway assessment, you listen for sounds that reveal where the airway is compromised. Snoring, gurgling, and stridor are classic indicators of partial or potential obstruction: snoring comes from soft tissue vibrating when the airway is partially blocked by relaxed tongue or pharyngeal tissues; gurgling signals secretions or fluid pooling in the airway that need clearing; stridor is a high-pitched noise from turbulent flow through a narrowed upper airway, often due to edema, injury, or foreign body. Each of these sounds points to an airway that may require immediate management to restore patency, such as airway maneuvers, suctioning, or advanced airway intervention. By contrast, wheezing suggests lower airway constriction, coughing loudly is a non-specific airway irritation, and a silent chest indicates a severe, possibly life-threatening lack of air movement rather than a discernible sound to note—so the first set best fits the airway-assessment focus.