Musculoskeletal and Surface Trauma Flashcards
6 cards from real TNCC practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 6 Musculoskeletal and Surface Trauma flashcards as text
A trauma patient with an unstable pelvic fracture is hemodynamically unstable. Which intervention most effectively controls pelvic hemorrhage in the emergency department?
Answer: Application of a pelvic binder or circumferential sheet
A pelvic binder or circumferential sheet reduces the pelvic volume, approximates fracture fragments, and provides tamponade of venous and cancellous bone bleeding in unstable pelvic fractures.
A construction worker sustains a crush injury to his right hand from a hydraulic press. After 4 hours, the hand is markedly swollen with severe pain on passive finger extension. Compartment pressure measures 42 mmHg with a diastolic blood pressure of 70 mmHg. The appropriate intervention is:
Answer: Emergent fasciotomy
The delta pressure (diastolic BP minus compartment pressure) is 28 mmHg, which is below the 30 mmHg threshold, indicating compartment syndrome requiring emergent fasciotomy.
Which burn depth is characterized by painful blisters, moist red appearance, and blanching with pressure?
Answer: Superficial partial-thickness (second-degree)
Superficial partial-thickness burns extend into the papillary dermis, presenting with intact blisters, moist red or pink wound beds, significant pain (nerve endings intact), and blanching with pressure.
The Parkland formula for fluid resuscitation in a burn patient calculates the first 24-hour crystalloid requirement as:
Answer: 4 mL × kg body weight × %TBSA burned
The Parkland formula calculates 4 mL of lactated Ringer's solution × patient weight in kg × %TBSA burned, with half given in the first 8 hours and half over the next 16 hours.
A patient with bilateral lower extremity fractures is at highest risk for which systemic complication?
Answer: Fat embolism syndrome
Fat embolism syndrome occurs when fat globules from bone marrow enter the bloodstream after long bone fractures, potentially causing respiratory distress, neurological changes, and petechial rash.
When assessing a patient with suspected rhabdomyolysis after prolonged entrapment, which urine finding is most characteristic?
Answer: Dark brown or tea-colored urine
Rhabdomyolysis causes myoglobin release into the bloodstream, which is filtered by the kidneys, producing characteristic dark brown or tea-colored urine (myoglobinuria).