Practice Test Geeks(ABEM) American Board of Emergency Medicine Practice Test
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Trauma & Procedural Skills Flashcards

7 cards from real ABEM practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.

Read the first 7 Trauma & Procedural Skills flashcards as text

  1. A patient with blunt chest trauma has absent breath sounds on the left and tracheal deviation to the right. BP is 70/40 mmHg. What is the immediate next step?

    Answer: Needle decompression at left 2nd ICS MCL

    Tension pneumothorax causing hemodynamic instability requires immediate needle decompression before imaging.

  2. During a resuscitative thoracotomy for penetrating cardiac trauma, you find a laceration to the right ventricle. Which maneuver is most appropriate to control bleeding?

    Answer: Finger occlusion followed by stapling or suture repair

    Finger occlusion of the ventricular laceration followed by suture or staple repair is the standard initial control technique.

  3. A motorcyclist is brought in after a high-speed crash with a GCS of 8, bilateral femur fractures, and BP 80/50. After two large-bore IVs and 2L crystalloid, BP remains 85/55. What is the priority?

    Answer: Activate massive transfusion protocol and FAST exam

    Persistent hypotension after initial resuscitation warrants MTP activation and bedside FAST to identify hemorrhage source.

  4. Which landmark is used for needle decompression of tension pneumothorax using the 4th or 5th intercostal space approach?

    Answer: Mid-axillary line

    The mid-axillary line at the 4th–5th ICS is the preferred alternate site, especially in obese patients where MCL decompression may fail.

  5. A patient with a stab wound to zone II of the neck is hemodynamically stable with an expanding hematoma. What is the correct management?

    Answer: Immediate surgical exploration

    An expanding hematoma in zone II neck trauma indicates vascular injury requiring immediate surgical exploration.

  6. When performing a diagnostic peritoneal lavage (DPL), a positive result for blunt abdominal trauma includes which finding?

    Answer: RBC > 100,000 cells/µL on lavage return

    DPL is positive for hemoperitoneum when lavage fluid contains >100,000 RBC/µL in blunt trauma.

  7. A trauma patient develops paradoxical chest wall movement involving multiple ribs bilaterally after a crush injury. What is the primary concern?

    Answer: Flail chest with underlying pulmonary contusion

    Paradoxical chest wall movement indicates flail chest, and the underlying pulmonary contusion is the primary driver of respiratory failure.