Repair of a long bone fracture, which must happen promptly but poses no immediate threat to life, is classified as urgent surgery.
Missing Word
urgent
Urgent surgery is done promptly, usually within a short window, because the condition could worsen and become dangerous if delayed. It differs from emergency surgery, which is needed immediately to save life or limb.
Category: Surgical Categories
Question 2
Surgical removal of one lobe of a lung is called a lobectomy.
Missing Word
lobectomy
The suffix -ectomy means surgical removal, so a lobectomy removes a lobe. Removing the whole lung is a pneumonectomy.
Category: Surgical Terminology
Question 3
For hip, kidney and many chest procedures, the patient lies on one side in the lateral position, with pillows and supports keeping the body stable.
Missing Word
lateral
The lateral, or side-lying, position gives the surgeon access to the hip, kidney and chest. Supports keep the patient from rolling, and padding protects the bony areas on the lower side, which bear the body's weight.
Category: Patient Positioning
Question 4
Padding the elbow when the arm rests on an armboard during surgery protects the ulnar nerve, which lies close to the skin at the inner elbow.
Missing Word
ulnar
The ulnar nerve passes close to the surface at the inner elbow, so prolonged pressure there during a long procedure can cause numbness, tingling or weakness in the hand afterward. Padding and careful arm placement prevent this positioning nerve injury.
Category: Positioning Complications
Question 5
An incision through the abdominal wall to open the abdominal cavity, as in emergency surgery for a bowel obstruction, is a laparotomy.
Missing Word
laparotomy
The suffix -otomy means cutting into. A laparotomy opens the abdomen so the surgeon can reach the organs directly, unlike procedures done through a scope.
Category: Surgical Terminology
Question 6
For many gynecologic and urologic procedures, the patient lies on the back with the legs raised and supported in stirrups, called the lithotomy position.
Missing Word
lithotomy
The lithotomy position gives access to the perineum. Because the legs are elevated and abducted, the team pads the legs and watches for nerve compression and circulation problems.
Category: Patient Positioning
Question 7
For most abdominal, chest and cardiac procedures, the patient lies flat on the back in the supine position, with arms tucked or on armboards.
Missing Word
supine
The supine position is widely used in surgery. Padding and careful arm placement protect against pressure and nerve injury.
Category: Patient Positioning
Question 8
The physician who evaluates the patient's health, develops a tailored plan to keep the patient unconscious and pain free, and manages the airway during surgery is the anesthesiologist.
Missing Word
anesthesiologist
An anesthesiologist is a physician specialist who plans and gives anesthesia, monitors vital signs and oxygenation, and manages complications. Nurse anesthetists, anesthesia assistants and residents work under the anesthesiologist's guidance.
Category: Surgical Team Roles
Question 9
The scrub nurse prepares the sterile instruments, passes them to the surgeon and anticipates what the surgeon will need next.
Missing Word
scrub
The scrub nurse works within the sterile field and is responsible for its sterility, while the circulating nurse works outside it.
Category: Surgical Team Roles
Question 10
Some patients who refuse donor blood will accept autologous blood, which is their own blood collected before surgery.
Missing Word
autologous
Autologous blood comes from the patient, so it carries no risk of a reaction to donor blood. Beliefs vary, and some patients who refuse blood products, such as many Jehovah's Witnesses, will not accept it either, so the team plans for alternatives.
Category: Cultural and Ethical Care
Question 11
Forced-air warming blankets and heated IV fluids are used during surgery to maintain normothermia, a core body temperature within the normal range.
Missing Word
normothermia
Normothermia is normal body temperature. Open body cavities and long exposure cool the patient, so active warming prevents the impaired clotting and immunity that come with a low temperature.
Category: Intraoperative Complications
Question 12
General anesthesia typically begins with induction, in which an IV agent produces unresponsiveness before inhaled agents maintain the anesthetic state.
Missing Word
induction
Induction is the start of general anesthesia. An IV induction agent and muscle relaxant begin the process, and inhaled agents such as sevoflurane keep the patient anesthetized during surgery.
Category: Anesthesia and Sedation
Question 13
In an older adult, minimizing anesthesia exposure and providing a quiet, familiar recovery environment help prevent delirium, an acute, fluctuating state of confusion.
Missing Word
delirium
Older adults are more sensitive to anesthetic agents and have less physiological reserve, which raises the risk of delirium after surgery. Limiting anesthesia exposure, keeping the recovery setting calm and involving family help prevent it.
Category: Older Adults in Surgery
Question 14
Unlike a single spinal injection, an epidural can include a catheter, a thin flexible tube left in the epidural space, so that local anesthetic or opioid doses can continue after the first injection.
Missing Word
catheter
An epidural catheter allows continuous or intermittent dosing for labor, surgery or postoperative pain. The site requires sterile technique and continued monitoring.
Category: Anesthesia and Sedation
Question 15
Spinal anesthesia, epidural anesthesia and peripheral nerve blocks are all types of regional anesthesia, which numbs a larger part of the body than local anesthesia does without causing unconsciousness.
Missing Word
regional
Regional anesthesia gives targeted pain relief to one region of the body. Because it limits systemic drug exposure, it can lessen postoperative pain and speed recovery, and ultrasound guidance improves placement accuracy.
Category: Anesthesia and Sedation