Omron Sprague Rappaport Stethoscope Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I am a first year nursing student and although I bought a Littman Classic II SE, I was concerned about it growing legs and walking off while in clinical or lab. Based on the famous "For Us Docs" stethescope review from 2008 that you can find online, I picked up this steth for ~$24.00 here on Amazon to use instead.
Pros:
- This stethescope IS surprisingly clear for apical auscultations and taking blood pressures. My Littman may be a bit louder, but I think that it sounds muddy or boomy. This Omron Sprague is clear.
- The steth does NOT have the tunable diaphragm like the Littmann, which I think is a plus. A normal dual-head steth, I find, is easier to use: you
don't have to worry about changing pressure while listening to a patient to hear the high or low noises.
- The blue color that I chose is actually a darker, less toy-like looking color, which is nice. I wouldn't be embarrassed wearing this in a hospital.
- Very flexible in terms of accessories: Adult and Peds diaphragam and bell attachments switch out quickly. There is even an infant bell, and three types of eartips. The accessories all come in a little plastic folding holder, which is cheap but useful.
- Actually feels like its built fairly well.
Cons:
- The double lumen tubing is stiff and doesn't bend easily enough to accomadate various positions during an exam.
- The double lumen has what appears to bea permenant kink due to being folded into the box for sometime.
- The accessories are cheap - the various bells are just cheap plastic (but what do you want for the low price?)
- Here's the BIG one for me: its extremely uncomfortable to wear! The mushroom eartips are worthless, the hardplastic tips did not block out ambient noise well enough, and the clear rubber tips stuck too far into my ear canals. It was literally quite painful!
- The scope will get heavy over the course of a 12 hour shift.
All-in-all, this scope is usable as a last resort. And its cheap enough that if it gets 'borrowed' the owner wouldn't be too angry. Useful for basic auscultations for students, but its too uncomfortable (for me) to be used for any length of time. I will send this back and get a refund, and go with a GRx or ADG, etc. Or get the Littmann engraved with my name.
I would seriously consider getting one that is a bit more expensive for the comfort issue alone. ***Update 3-8-10***
I decided to hang onto this scope and mess with it. I straightened out the tubing by letting it soak in extremely hot water for 20 minutes (not immersing the head), then letting it hang so that the weight of the head would align the tubing. I also put on some soft ear tips from a Prestige Medical Sprague I had laying around and voila! It went from a kinked, uncomfortable scope to one that is actually pretty nice to use. Is it the best scope out there? No, however for the price and clear acoustics, it's not too bad (especially for students!) Just be prepared to give it a little TLC to get it into tip-top shape! I even used a little Armor All I had in the garage to coat the tubing and protect it a bit. Hope this helps!

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A 5-in-1 multipurpose Quintscope, the Omron Sprague Rappaport - Type Stethoscope is designed for flexibilty of clinical needs, sound performance, and affordability.

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