ATLS10 2019/2020 Post-Test
ATLS10 exam questions with answers (answers outlined!!)
1. A 24-year-old male pedestrian, struck by an automobile, is
... [Show More] admitted to the
emergency department 1 hour after injury. His blood pressure is 80/60
mmHg, heart rate 140 beats per minute and respiratory rate is 36 per
minute. He is lethargic. Oxygen is delivered via face mask, and two largecaliber IVs are initiated. Arterial blood gases are obtained. His PaO2 is 118
mmHg (15.7 kPa), PaCO2 is 30 mmHg (4.0 kPa), and pH is7.21. The
treatment of his acid-base disorder is best accomplished by:
a. Hyperventilation
b. Restoration of normal perfusion
c. Initiation of low-dose dopamine
d. Administration of sodium bicarbonate
e. Initiation of phenylepinephrine infusion
2. The highest priority in managing a patient whose injuries include closed
extremity fractures is:
a. Assesing limb perfusion
b. Preventing necrosis of the skin
c. Decompressing compartment syndrome
d. Addressing respiratory insufficiency Identifying crush syndrome
3. A 34-year-old female is involved in a motor vehicle crash is brought to the
emergency department. She is talking, but her voice is hoarse and on
exposure she has diagonal bruising of the chest and anterior neck. What is
the next step?
a. Direct laryngoscopy to exclude laryngeal trauma
b. Oxygen by non-rebreathing mask
c. Protecting the spine by making her lie down
d. Palpation of the anterior neck
e. Attaching a pulse oximeter to her finger
4. A 30-year-old male sustains a gunshot wound to the right lower chest,
midway between the nipple and the costal margin. He is brought by
ambulance to a hospital that has full surgical capabilities. In the emergency
department he is endotracheally intubated, fluid resuscitation is initiated
through two large-caliber IV lines, and a closed tube thoracostomy is
NURSING
performed, with the return of 200 ml of blood. A chest xray reveals correct
placement of the chest tube and a small residual hemothorax. His blodd
pressure is now 70/0 mmHg, and his heart rate is 140 beats per minute. His
hypotension is most likely due to:
a. Tension pneumothorax
b. Massive hemothorax
c. Pericardial tamponade
d. Intraabdominal bleeding
e. Insufficient isotonic crystalloid infusion
5. A 20-year-old athlete is involved in a motorcycle crash after having ridden
for hours on a very hot day. When he arrives in the emergency department,
he shouts that he cannot move his legs. On physical examination, there are
no abnormalities of the chest, abdomen, or pelvis. The patient has no
sensation in his legs and cannot move them, but his arms are moving. The
patient’s respiratory rate is 22, heart rate is 88, and blood pressure is 80/60
mmHg. He is pale and sweaty. What is the most likely cause of his
hypotension?
a. Neurogenic shock
b. Cardiac tamponade
c. Myocardial contusion
d. Hyperthermia
e. Hemorrhagic shock
6. Comapred with adults, children have:
a. A longer, wider, funnel-shaped airway
b. A less pliable, calcified skeleton
c. Greater mobility of mediastinal structures
d. A relatively smaller head and larger jaw
e. Anterior displacement of C5 on C6
7. Which one of the findings below requires a definitive airway in trauma
patients?
a. Facial lacerations
b. Repeated vomiting
c. Partial thickness facial burns, cough, and hoarseness
d. Sternal fracture
e. Glascow Coma Scale score of 12
8. In a patient with spinal cord injury, sacral sparing:
a. Refers to a fracure of the sacrum
b. Is part of the spinal shock syndrome
c. Is a good prognostic sign
d. Indicates a complete spinal cord injury
e. Occurs only with complete transection of the lumbosacral spinal cord
9. A 22-year-old woman falls whil skiing. She is evaluated at a small
community hospital that does not have neurological services. Spinal motion
is restricted, supplemental oxygen by mask is administered, and two
antecubital IVs are placed. Her Glascow Coma Scale score is 12, pupils are
equal, blood pressure is 135/76 mmHg, heart rate is 105, and respiratory
rate is 19. Chest x-ray is normal. This patient’s management priorities are:
a. Repeat primary survey and transfer to a trauma center
b. Definitive airway, CT of the head, and intracranial pressure monitor
c. IV mannitol, definitive airway, CT of the head, and neurosurgery consult
d. CT of the head, EEG, cerebral perfusion pressure monitoring, and
hypertonic saline
e. IV Dilantin, IV mannitol, mild hyperventilation, and serial arterial blood
gases
10. A young male patient is brought to the emergency department following a 5-
meter (16-foot) fall from a roof. He responds to pressure by pushing away
your hand, opening his eyes, and verbalizing inappropriate words. Pupils
are equal. The most important step is management of this patient would
be:
a. Immidiate intubation to protect his airway
b. Administer 25 mg/kg IV bolus mannitol
c. Insert two large-bore IVs
d. Alcohol and drug screening
e. Determine whether amnesia is present and, if so, for what period of
time
11. Twenty-seven patients are seriously injured in an airplane crash at a local
airport.
The principles of triage include:
a. Establish a triage site whthin the hot zone of the crash site
b. Treat only the most severely injured patients first
c. Immidiately transport all patients to the nearest hospital
d. Treat the greatest number of patients in the shortest period of time
e. Produce the greatest number of survivors based on available resources
12. A 35-year-old female falls down a flight of stairs. She has extensive bruising
of her face and head. Her heart rate is 120, blood pressure 90/70 mmHg,
and respiratory rate is 26. The patient`s condition is most readily explained
by:
a. Associated head injury
b. Hypovolemia from hemorrhagic shock
c. Alcohol intoxication
d. Spinal shock from cervical spine injury
e. Neurogenic shock from cervical spine injury
13. Which one of the following statements is correct:
a. Cerebral contusions may coalesce to form an intracerebral hematoma
b. Epidural hematomas are usually seen in the frontal region
c. Subdural hematomas are caused by injury to the middle meningeal
artery
d. Subdural hematomas typically have a lenticular shape on CT scan
e. The associated brain damage is more severe in epidural hematomas
14. An 18-year-old is brought to the emergency department after having been
shot. He has one bullet wound just below the right clavicle and another just
below the costal margin in the right posterior axillary line. His blood
pressure is 110/60 mmHg, heart rate is 90 beats per minute, and respiratory
rate is 34 breaths per minute. After ensuring a patent airway and inserting
two large-caliber IV lines, the next appropriate step is to:
a. Obtain a portable chest x-ray
b. Administer a bolus of additional IV fluid
c. Perform a laparotomy
d. Obtain an abdominal CT scan
e. Perform diagnostic peritoneal lavage
15. Which one of the following statements is true concerning cranial anatomy
related to traumatic injury?
a. A scalp laceration is an unlikely source of bleeding in a patient with a
long transport time.
b. The meninges are comprised of the dure, pia, and arachnoid.
c. The middle meningeal artery lies between the dura and pia mater.
d. Effacement or shift of the ventricles occurs commonly with
concussions.
e. A dilated pupil is produced when the sympathetic nerve fibers located
on the third cranial nerve are compressed by the temporal lobe.
16. A 47-year-old house painter is brought to the hospital after falling 6 meters
(20 feet) from a ladder and landing straddling a fence. Examination of his
perineum reveals extensive ecchymosis. There is blood in the external
urethral meatus. The initial diagnostic study for evaluation of the urinary
tract in this patent should be:
a. Cystoscopy
b. Cystography
c. Intravenous pyelography
d. CT scan
e. Retrograde urethrography
17. Which of the following statements is true?
a. The laryngeal mask airway is an infraglottic device.
b. The multilumen esophageal airway occludes the supraglottic lumen and
ventilates through the port placed distal to the vocal cords.
c. The nasopharyngeal airway is an ideal supraglottic device for patients
with cribiform plate fractures.
d. Nasotracheal tubes position a cuffed airway in the infraglottic space.
e. Tracheostomy tubes are placed in apneic, hypoxic patients in the
supraglottic space.
18. Neurogenic shock has all of the following characteristics except which?
a. Hypotension
b. Vasodilation
c. Bradycardia
d. Neurologic deficit
e. Narrowed pulse pressure
19. Which one of the following statements concerning spinal cord trauma is
true?
a. A normal lateral c-spine film excludes injury.
b. A vertebral fracture or dislocation is unlikely in the absence of physical
findings of spinal cord injury.
c. A patient should remain on a long board until injury is excluded
radiographycally.
d. Diaphragmatic breathing in an unconscious patient whi has fallen may
indicate cervical spinal cord injury.
e. Determination of wether a spinal cord lesion is complete or incomplete
must be made in the primary survey.
20. Which one of the following statements is false concerning Rh
isoimmunization in pregnant trauma patient?
a. It occurs in blunt penetrating abdominal trauma
b. It is produced by minor degree of fetomaternal hemorrhage
c. Rh immuniglobulin therapy should be administered to pregnant females
who have sustained a gunshot wound to the leg
d. Isoimmunization is not a problem in Rh-positive pregnant patients
e. Initiation of Rh immunoglobulin therapy does not require proof of
fetomaternal hemorrhage
21. An 18-year-old motorcyclist collides head-on with a pick-up truck and
sustains massive facial injuries. In the emergency department his blood
pressure is 150/88 mmHg, heart rate is 88 beats per minute and regular,
and respiratory rate is 26 breaths per minute. His respirations are labored
and sonorous. His Glascow Coma Scale score is 7. Attempts at orotracheal
intubation with restricition of cervical spinal motion are unsuccessful due to
bleeding and distorted anatomy. The patient becomes apneic. The best
procedure for airway management in this situation is:
a. Nasotracheal intubation
b. Emergency tracheostomy
c. Surgical cricothyroidotomy
d. Placement of an oropharyngeal airway
e. Placement of an nasopharyngeal airway
22. A 25-year-old male is brought to the hospital after sustaining partial- and
fullthickness burns involving 60% of his body surface area. General surgical
services are available. His right arm and hand are severely burned. There
are obvious fullthickness burns of the entire right hand and a circumferential
burn of the right arm.
Pulses are absent at the right wrist and are not detected by Doppler examination.
Management should include:
a. Fasciotomy
b. Angiography
c. Escharotomy
d. Heparinization
Tangential
excision
23. A 30-year-old male presents following a motor vehicle crash. Vital signs are
respiratory rate 18, heart rate 88, blood pressure 130/72 mmHg, and
Glascow Coma Scale score 13. Laparotomy is indicated when:
a. There is a distinct seat-belt sign over the abdomen
b. The CT scan demonstrates a grade 4 hepatic injury
c. There is evidence of residual hemothorax after chest tube placement
d. CT demonstrates retroperitoneal air
e. CT demonstrates a retroperitoneal hematoma
24. All of the following are signs of aortic rupture on chest x-ray of a patient who
sustained a blunt decelerating traume except which one?
a. Mediastinal emphysema
b. Presence of a pleural cap
c. Obliteration of the aortic knob
d. Deviation of the trachea to the right
e. Depression of the left mainstem bronchus
25. A 30-year-old female is brought to the hospital after a fall from her bicycle.
She was initially unconscious and then regained consciousness en route to
the hospital. Thirty minutes after admission to the emergency department,
her Glasoc Coma Scale score decreases to 6. her right pupil is larger than
the left. She most likely has sustained: [Show Less]