General Surgery Principles Flashcards
7 cards from real AMC MCQ practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 General Surgery Principles flashcards as text
A trauma patient has distended neck veins, hypotension and muffled heart sounds. What is the diagnosis?
Answer: Cardiac tamponade
Beck's triad of hypotension, raised JVP and muffled heart sounds indicates cardiac tamponade.
What is the correct immediate management of a suspected tension pneumothorax?
Answer: Immediate needle or finger thoracostomy
Tension pneumothorax is a clinical diagnosis requiring immediate decompression before imaging.
Which type of shock is characterised by warm peripheries, hypotension and a high cardiac output?
Answer: Septic (distributive) shock
Early septic shock causes vasodilation producing warm peripheries with a high-output state.
A patient bleeding massively receives a balanced transfusion. What ratio of products is commonly recommended?
Answer: 1:1:1 red cells, plasma and platelets
Massive transfusion protocols favour a balanced 1:1:1 ratio to prevent dilutional coagulopathy.
What is the lethal triad in trauma that damage control surgery seeks to prevent?
Answer: Hypothermia, acidosis and coagulopathy
The lethal triad of hypothermia, acidosis and coagulopathy worsens bleeding and mortality in trauma.
Which investigation is first-line for a haemodynamically unstable patient with blunt abdominal trauma?
Answer: FAST ultrasound
FAST ultrasound rapidly detects free fluid at the bedside in unstable trauma patients.
A postoperative patient develops sudden pleuritic chest pain, dyspnoea and tachycardia on day 4. What is the most likely diagnosis?
Answer: Pulmonary embolism
Sudden pleuritic chest pain with dyspnoea and tachycardia postoperatively strongly suggests pulmonary embolism.