Practice Test Geeks(NCCPA) National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants Practice Test
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Emergency Medicine Flashcards

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

Read the first 7 Emergency Medicine flashcards as text

  1. A patient on lithium presents with coarse tremor, confusion, and diarrhea with a lithium level of 3.2 mEq/L. What is the definitive treatment?

    Answer: Hemodialysis

    Severe lithium toxicity (level >2.5 mEq/L with symptoms) requires hemodialysis to rapidly remove lithium due to its small volume of distribution.

  2. Which finding on point-of-care ultrasound confirms a ruptured ectopic pregnancy?

    Answer: Free fluid in the hepatorenal space (Morrison's pouch) with no IUP

    Free intraperitoneal fluid (hemoperitoneum) in Morrison's pouch with an empty uterus in a pregnant patient confirms ruptured ectopic pregnancy requiring emergency surgery.

  3. A 60-year-old presents with severe epigastric pain radiating to the back, vomiting, and lipase 4,500 U/L. CT shows peripancreatic fat stranding but no necrosis. What is the most appropriate initial management?

    Answer: NPO, aggressive IV fluid resuscitation, pain control

    Mild-to-moderate acute pancreatitis is managed with bowel rest, aggressive fluid resuscitation (lactated Ringer's preferred), and adequate analgesia.

  4. What is the most common dysrhythmia seen in Wolff-Parkinson-White (WPW) syndrome presenting to the ED?

    Answer: Atrioventricular reentrant tachycardia (AVRT)

    AVRT (orthodromic or antidromic) is the most common tachyarrhythmia in WPW, using the accessory pathway as part of the reentrant circuit.

  5. A 3-year-old presents with stridor, drooling, and high fever. The child sits forward in a 'tripod position' and appears toxic. What diagnosis must be excluded emergently?

    Answer: Epiglottitis

    Epiglottitis presents with the classic tripod positioning, drooling, high fever, and stridor; airway management must be immediately prepared as obstruction can be rapid.

  6. Which lab finding is most specific for rhabdomyolysis-induced acute kidney injury?

    Answer: Myoglobinuria causing brown/tea-colored urine

    Myoglobinuria produces the characteristic tea-colored or cola-colored urine in rhabdomyolysis and is directly nephrotoxic to renal tubules.

  7. A patient with known COPD presents in acute respiratory failure with pH 7.22, PaCO2 78, PaO2 52 on room air. They are alert and cooperative. What is the preferred intervention?

    Answer: Non-invasive positive pressure ventilation (BiPAP)

    BiPAP is the preferred intervention for acute hypercapnic respiratory failure in COPD as it reduces intubation rates and mortality while preserving airway reflexes.