PHTLS Study Guide 2026
Everything you need to pass the PHTLS exam in one place: the exam format, every topic to study, real practice questions with explanations, flashcards, and full-length practice tests. Free, no sign-up needed.
📋 PHTLS Exam Format at a Glance
📚 PHTLS Topics to Study (45)
✍️ Sample PHTLS Questions & Answers
1. Which anatomical feature of a child's airway makes intubation more challenging compared to an adult?
In children, the larynx is higher and more anterior, making visualization and intubation technically more difficult.
2. In a child with an isolated closed head injury and increased intracranial pressure, what ventilation rate is recommended to avoid hyperventilation?
Routine hyperventilation is harmful because it causes cerebral vasoconstriction and ischemia; ventilate at normal age-appropriate rates unless herniation is imminent.
3. On a PHTLS pre-test, what does the 'E' in the ABCDE primary survey stand for?
The 'E' stands for Exposure and Environment, requiring the patient to be fully exposed to identify all injuries while preventing hypothermia.
4. A 2-year-old trauma patient has a GCS of 9. Using the modified pediatric GCS, what adjustment must be made to the verbal component?
The pediatric modification of the GCS verbal score accounts for age-appropriate vocalizations such as crying, babbling, or words rather than adult verbal responses.
5. Which circumferential burn complication requires escharotomy and presents with absent distal pulses and a tight, pale extremity?
Circumferential full-thickness burns create rigid eschar that constricts swelling tissue, causing compartment syndrome that requires escharotomy to restore circulation.
6. What is a flail chest and why is it clinically significant?
A flail segment is created when multiple adjacent ribs are fractured at two points, producing a free-floating section that moves paradoxically during breathing.