where can crackles be heard
ATELECTATIC crackles, as the name would suggest, are heard when a portion of the lung is collapsed and airless. They are relatively quiet, end-inspiratory crackles. They are often heard posteriorly: 1  in supine, low-mobility patients (body-weight specific), 2  at chest-tube sites, and.
As a patient's condition worsens further, the fluid may leak into the lungs. The patient now has pulmonary edema, and those lung sounds may even be heard on expiration. At that point, they are classified as SUB-CREPITANT crackles. Sometimes an isolated area of crepitant crackles can be found in an upper lung field.