TNCC - Trauma Nurse Core Curriculum Thoracic and Abdominal Trauma Questions and Answers

Question 1

A patient with blunt chest trauma from a steering wheel impact is noted to have a segment of their right chest wall that retracts inward during inspiration and bulges outward during expiration.
This physical finding is the most definitive sign of which injury?

Accepted Answer

Flail chest

Answer

Tension pneumothorax

Answer

Massive hemothorax

Answer

Simple rib fractures

Question 2

A patient arrives after a penetrating wound to the central chest. The nurse assesses hypotension, distended jugular veins, and muffled heart sounds. These findings, known as Beck's Triad, are the classic signs of which life-threatening condition?

Accepted Answer

Pericardial (cardiac) tamponade

Answer

Aortic dissection

Answer

Tension pneumothorax

Answer

Pulmonary contusion

Question 3

A patient involved in a motor vehicle collision reports left upper quadrant abdominal pain that radiates to the tip of the left shoulder. This finding, known as Kehr's sign, is highly suggestive of an injury to which organ?

Accepted Answer

Spleen

Answer

Liver

Answer

Stomach

Answer

Pancreas

Question 4

A trauma patient presents with absent breath sounds on the right, tracheal deviation to the left, severe respiratory distress, and hypotension. What is the immediate, life-saving intervention for this condition?

Accepted Answer

Perform an immediate needle decompression.

Answer

Obtain a stat portable chest x-ray.

Answer

Prepare for immediate chest tube insertion.

Answer

Administer a 1-liter bolus of crystalloid fluid.

Question 5

A patient arrives with an abdominal evisceration following a stab wound. What is the most appropriate initial management of the exposed abdominal contents?

Accepted Answer

Cover the exposed contents with a sterile, saline-moistened dressing.

Answer

Gently attempt to push the bowel back into the abdominal cavity.

Answer

Apply an occlusive dressing taped on all four sides.

Answer

Irrigate the exposed bowel with povidone-iodine solution.

Question 6

During the secondary survey of a patient with blunt thoracoabdominal trauma, the nurse auscultates bowel sounds in the left lower chest. This finding is most indicative of which injury?

Accepted Answer

Diaphragmatic rupture

Answer

Hemothorax

Answer

Esophageal perforation

Answer

Pulmonary contusion

A patient with blunt chest trauma from a steering wheel impact is noted to have a segment of their right chest wall that retracts inward during inspiration and bulges outward during expiration.This physical finding is the most definitive sign of which injury?

A patient with blunt chest trauma from a steering wheel impact is noted to have a segment of their right chest wall that retracts inward during inspiration and bulges outward during expiration.
This physical finding is the most definitive sign of which injury?