A dull percussion note is described as which of the following?

• A. Hyperresonance
• B. Dullness
• C. Resonance
• D. Tympany

Answer: (B)

The main idea is that percussion notes tell you about what lies beneath the surface. A dull percussion note means the underlying tissue is denser than air—solid or fluid-filled—so the sound comes out muffled and less resonant. That’s why the term used to describe this finding is dullness. In practice, you’ll hear dullness over structures like the liver, a filled bladder, areas of lung consolidation, or fluid in the pleural space.

By comparison, hyperresonance is an louder, lower-pitched sound due to extra air (as in pneumothorax or emphysema), resonance is the normal loud, low sound of air-filled lungs, and tympany is a drumlike sound from hollow gas-filled areas like the stomach or intestines.