Medical technology yesterday and today
August 23, 2018 | 75,00 EUR | answered by Dr. med. Frauke Gehring
Dear Sir or Madam, I am working as a journalist on a historical feature about the stethoscope. Could you please answer the following questions from your practice (which I would like to use as a quote)?
- What significance does the stethoscope have for you in your daily practice?
- What are the strengths and weaknesses of the stethoscope?
- Has its importance decreased due to imaging techniques in cardiology?
Thank you very much!
Good morning,
The stethoscope still has a high significance in the daily life of a general practitioner. I use it dozens of times a day. With it, you can hear breathing sounds, diagnose conditions such as bronchitis, pleurisy, asthma, and pneumonia. Heart sounds can reveal arrhythmias and valve defects, allowing differentiation between leaky and narrowed valves, as well as which valve is affected. It can also provide clues to pericarditis or narrowed carotid arteries. Lastly, we need it for measuring blood pressure.
All of these are strengths. Of course, a stethoscope is only as good as the person using it, and not everything can be heard. There are pneumonias that cannot be detected with it.
The importance has by no means decreased! You cannot send dozens of patients for lung X-rays or echocardiograms every day! We neither have the capacity, nor would the radiation exposure be tolerable. Since the stethoscope tells us what we want to know 99% of the time, it remains extremely important. Imaging techniques are highly valued, but only as a supplement.
By the way, young people sometimes underestimate the capabilities of the stethoscope. One once told me that he seriously thought the examination with it was a meaningless ritual. He assumed that stethoscopes were only used on TV as a symbol of being a doctor. I found this surprising coming from a very intelligent young man!
So thank you for your article.
Warm regards, Dr. Gehring
