Treatment Planning & Protocols Flashcards
7 cards from real CLT practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Treatment Planning & Protocols flashcards as text
When developing a laser treatment protocol for wound healing, which factor most directly influences the choice between continuous wave and pulsed emission modes?
Answer: Wound chronicity and desired thermal vs. non-thermal effect
Pulsed mode reduces heat accumulation and is preferred for acute wounds, while continuous wave may be used when sustained energy delivery is needed for chronic wounds.
A treatment plan for carpal tunnel syndrome should direct laser application to which anatomical landmarks?
Answer: The carpal tunnel inlet at the wrist crease plus the median nerve course up the forearm
Effective CTS protocols target the carpal tunnel inlet at the wrist crease and trace the median nerve proximally to address the compressed nerve segment.
The Arndt-Schulz law as applied to laser therapy suggests that:
Answer: Sub-threshold doses have no effect, and excessively high doses inhibit biological processes
The Arndt-Schulz law states that weak stimuli excite, strong stimuli inhibit, and very strong stimuli can arrest biological activity.
When planning laser treatment over a suspected malignant tumor site, the correct action is to:
Answer: Completely avoid direct irradiation over the malignancy
Direct laser irradiation over malignant tissue is an absolute contraindication due to the risk of stimulating cancer cell proliferation.
A therapist plans to treat chronic low back pain with a Class 3B laser. What is the minimum required safety equipment during treatment?
Answer: Protective eyewear appropriate for the specific laser wavelength for all individuals in the room
Class 3B lasers can cause immediate eye injury from direct or specularly reflected beams; wavelength-specific optical density eyewear is mandatory for everyone in the treatment room.
In a laser therapy treatment plan, the term 'beam divergence' is clinically relevant because it affects:
Answer: The power density delivered at the tissue surface as distance from the probe changes
As the probe is held farther from the skin, beam divergence reduces power density (irradiance), directly affecting the dose delivered to tissue.
Which patient history finding would prompt a therapist to modify (but not necessarily contraindicate) a laser treatment plan for knee osteoarthritis?
Answer: Presence of a metallic knee implant
Metallic implants reflect laser energy and can cause localized heating; protocols should be adjusted by reducing power and avoiding direct irradiation over the implant.