Abdominal bruit overview

Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]

An abdominal bruit is a swishing, or washing machine like sound heard when the diaphragm of stethoscope is placed over the spleen, renal arteries, or abdominal aorta. It is often indicative of partial occlusion of a vessel, as can be observed in renal artery stenosis or atherosclerosis of the abdominal vasculature.