This site is intended for healthcare professionals

Sign in
Go to /sign-in page

You can view 5 more pages without signing in

Bowel sounds

Last reviewed dd mmm yyyy. Last edited dd mmm yyyy

Authoring team

When auscultating for bowel sounds, one should use the bell of the stethoscope and listen for at least 30 seconds in several different places. Aside from normal noises, there are three situations which may be detected:

  • absent bowel sounds:
    • over a three-minute period indicates paralytic ileus

  • obstructed bowel produces a louder and more high pitched sound with a tinkling quality due to the presence of liquid and air

  • intestinal hurry - occurs in diarrhoeal states - causes loud gurgling sounds often audible without a stethoscope

Stating that bowel sounds are increased or decreased is of little diagnostic value because the estimation of their loudness is subjective and varies with food transit.

Related pages

Create an account to add page annotations

Create a free account

Annotations allow you to add information to this page that would be handy to have on hand during a consultation. E.g. a website or number. This information will always show when you visit this page.

The content herein is provided for informational purposes and does not replace the need to apply professional clinical judgement when diagnosing or treating any medical condition. A licensed medical practitioner should be consulted for diagnosis and treatment of any and all medical conditions.

Connect

Copyright 2024 Oxbridge Solutions Limited, a subsidiary of OmniaMed Communications Limited. All rights reserved. Any distribution or duplication of the information contained herein is strictly prohibited. Oxbridge Solutions receives funding from advertising but maintains editorial independence.