NPTE-PT MCQ 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A patient presents with weakness of hip abduction and a positive Trendelenburg sign on the right side. Which nerve is most likely injured?
- Femoral nerve
- Superior gluteal nerve (Correct answer)
- Inferior gluteal nerve
- Obturator nerve
Correct answer: Superior gluteal nerve
The superior gluteal nerve innervates the gluteus medius and minimus, which are responsible for hip abduction; injury causes a Trendelenburg gait.
Question 2: During a manual muscle test, a patient can move through full ROM against gravity but fails with minimal resistance. What grade is assigned?
- Grade 2
- Grade 3
- Grade 4 (Correct answer)
- Grade 5
Correct answer: Grade 4
Grade 4 (Good) indicates full ROM against gravity with some but not full resistance.
Question 3: A therapist applies ice to a patient's ankle for 20 minutes. Which physiological effect occurs FIRST?
- Vasodilation
- Decreased nerve conduction velocity (Correct answer)
- Reduced muscle spasm
- Decreased metabolic rate
Correct answer: Decreased nerve conduction velocity
Cold application immediately slows nerve conduction velocity, which is the primary early physiological response.
Question 4: Which ethical principle is violated when a physical therapist treats a patient without obtaining informed consent?
- Justice
- Beneficence
- Autonomy (Correct answer)
- Nonmaleficence
Correct answer: Autonomy
Autonomy is the patient's right to make informed decisions about their own care; bypassing consent violates this principle.
Question 5: A patient with a T6 complete spinal cord injury is sitting upright and suddenly develops pounding headache, diaphoresis above the lesion, and hypertension. What is the priority action?
- Administer analgesics immediately
- Lay the patient flat
- Sit the patient upright and identify the noxious stimulus (Correct answer)
- Apply a heating pad to the lower extremities
Correct answer: Sit the patient upright and identify the noxious stimulus
Autonomic dysreflexia requires sitting the patient upright (to lower BP via orthostasis) and immediately finding and removing the triggering noxious stimulus.
Question 6: Which gait deviation is most commonly associated with a weak quadriceps muscle during the stance phase?
- Trendelenburg lurch
- Excessive trunk extension (backward lean) (Correct answer)
- Circumduction
- Steppage gait
Correct answer: Excessive trunk extension (backward lean)
Patients with weak quadriceps compensate by leaning the trunk posteriorly over the stance leg to passively extend the knee through the line of gravity.
Question 7: A patient's knee joint effusion is best detected using which clinical test?
- McMurray test
- Valgus stress test
- Ballottement test (Correct answer)
- Lachman test
Correct answer: Ballottement test
The ballottement (patellar tap) test detects large knee effusions by compressing the suprapatellar pouch and feeling the patella bounce off the femur.
NPTE-PT MCQ 2
A patient presents with weakness of hip abduction and a positive Trendelenburg sign on the right side.
Which nerve is most likely injured?