Risk Assessment & Management Flashcards
7 cards from real ABCS practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Risk Assessment & Management flashcards as text
A surgeon notices an inadvertent intraoperative injury to a branch of the facial nerve during a parotid-area procedure. The most appropriate immediate action is:
Answer: Attempt primary nerve repair or note the injury, inform the patient upon waking, and arrange appropriate follow-up
Honest disclosure of intraoperative complications, coupled with appropriate repair attempts and follow-up planning, is both ethically mandated and legally protective.
Which Revised Cardiac Risk Index (RCRI) factor is directly relevant to a patient requesting liposuction who has insulin-dependent diabetes and a history of congestive heart failure?
Answer: Two factors — both insulin-dependent diabetes and CHF are RCRI criteria
The RCRI includes insulin-dependent diabetes and history of congestive heart failure as independent risk factors, each adding one point.
Which documentation practice best protects a cosmetic surgeon from medicolegal risk related to unrealistic patient expectations?
Answer: Signed informed consent with documented discussion of realistic outcomes, limitations, and alternatives
Comprehensive written informed consent documenting realistic expectations, alternatives, and risks is the most defensible medicolegal protection.
After breast augmentation, a patient presents with sudden fever, rapid heart rate, and diffuse erythema around both implants on postoperative day 4. The priority diagnosis to rule out is:
Answer: Toxic shock syndrome (TSS)
Rapid-onset systemic signs with wound erythema after implant surgery should raise immediate concern for TSS, which can be life-threatening if untreated.
A patient with a history of deep vein thrombosis on oral contraceptives requests a thigh lift. The best preoperative risk management strategy includes:
Answer: Discontinuing OCP at least 4 weeks preoperatively and implementing pharmacologic VTE prophylaxis
Oral contraceptives significantly increase VTE risk; cessation 4 weeks before surgery and pharmacologic prophylaxis are standard risk management practices.
Which element of the WHO Surgical Safety Checklist is specifically designed to prevent wrong-site surgery?
Answer: Site marking and verbal confirmation of site, side, and procedure before incision (Sign-In and Time-Out)
The Sign-In and Time-Out steps of the WHO checklist require active verbal confirmation of patient identity, site, side, and planned procedure by the entire surgical team.
A patient with a documented allergy to amide local anesthetics requires regional anesthesia for a minor cosmetic procedure. The safest alternative is:
Answer: Use an ester-type local anesthetic such as procaine or chloroprocaine
Ester-type local anesthetics are chemically distinct from amides and can be used safely in patients with true amide anesthetic allergy.