1|Page
ATLS Post Test Study Guide | Advanced Trauma Life
Support Exam Answers & Comprehensive
Review||Newest Exam!!!
A 6-year-o boy is struck by an automobile and brought to
the ED. He is lethargic, but withdraws purposefully from
painful stimuli. His blood pressure is 90mmHg systolic,
heart rate 140 beats per minute and his respiratory rate is
36 breaths per minute. The preferred route of venous
access in this patient is:
A. Percutaneous femoral vein cannulation
B. Cutdown on the saphenous vein at the ankle
C. Intraosseous catheter placement in the proximal tibia
D. Percutaneous peripheral veins in the upper extremities
E. Central venous access via the subclavian or internal
jugular vein - Answers-D. Percutaneous peripheral veins in
the upper extremities
A young man sustains a gunshot wound to the abdomen
and is brought promptly to the ED by prehospital
personnel. His skin is cool and diaphoretic, and he is
confused. His pulse is thready and his femoral pulse is
only weakly palpable. The definitive treatment in managing
this patient is to:
,2|Page
A. Administer O-negative blood
B. Apply external warming devices
C. Control internal hemorrhage operatively
D. Apply a pneumatic antishock garment (PASG)
E. Infuse large volumes of intravenous crystalloid
solutions. - Answers-C. Control internal hemorrhage
operatively
Regarding shock in the child, which of the following is
FALSE?
A. Vital signs are age-related
B. Children have greater physiologic reserves than do
adults
C. Tachycardia is the primary physiologic response to
hypovolemia
D. The absolute volume of blood loss required to produce
shock is the same as in adults
E. An initial fluid bolus for resuscitation should
approximate 20ml/kg Ringers Lactate - Answers-D. The
absolute volume of blood loss required to produce shock
is the same as in adults
,3|Page
A 33-year-old man is struck by a car travelling at 56km/h
(35mph). He has obvious fractures of the left tibia near the
knee, pain in the pelvic area, and severe dyspnea. His
heart rate is 182 beats per minute, and his respiratory rate
is 48 breaths per minute with no breath sounds heard in
the left chest. A tension pneumothorax is relieved by
immediate needle decompression and tube thoracostomy.
Subsequently, his heart rate decreases to 144 beats per
minute, his respirartory rate decreases to 36 breaths per
minute and his blood pressure is 81/53 mmHg. Warmed
Ringers lactate is adminstered intravenously. The next
priority should be to:
A. Perform external fixation of the pelvis
B. Obtain abdominal and pelvic CT-scans
C. Perform arterial embolization of the pelvic vessel
D. Perform diagnostic peritoneal lavage or FAST
E. Perform a urethrogram and cystogram - Answers-D.
Perform diagnostic peritoneal lavage or FAST
A 42-year-old man, injured in a motor vehicle crash,
suffers a closed head injury, multiple palpable left rib
fractures, and bilateral femur fractures. He is intubated
orotracheally without difficulty. Initially, his ventilations are
easily assisted with a bag-mask device. It becomes more
, 4|Page
difficult to ventilate the patient over the next 5 minutes,
and his hemoglobin oxygen saturation level decreases
from 98% to 89%. The most appropriate next step is to:
A. Obtain a chest x-ray
B. Decrease the tidal volume
C. Decrease PEEP
D. Increase the rate of assisted ventilations
E. Perform needle decompression of the left chest. -
Answers-A. Obtain a chest x-ray
A 30-year-old man sustains a severely comminuted, open,
distal right femur fracture in a motorcycle crash. The
wound is actively bleeding. Normal sensation is present
over the lateral aspect of the foot but decreased over the
medial foot and great toe. Normal motion of the foot is
observed. Dorsalis pedis and posterior tibial pulses are
easily palpable on the left, but heard only by Doppler on
the right. Immediate efforts to improve circulation to the
injured extremity should involve:
A. Immediate angiography
B. Tamponade of the wound with a pressure dressing
C. Wound exploration and removal of bony fragments
ATLS Post Test Study Guide | Advanced Trauma Life
Support Exam Answers & Comprehensive
Review||Newest Exam!!!
A 6-year-o boy is struck by an automobile and brought to
the ED. He is lethargic, but withdraws purposefully from
painful stimuli. His blood pressure is 90mmHg systolic,
heart rate 140 beats per minute and his respiratory rate is
36 breaths per minute. The preferred route of venous
access in this patient is:
A. Percutaneous femoral vein cannulation
B. Cutdown on the saphenous vein at the ankle
C. Intraosseous catheter placement in the proximal tibia
D. Percutaneous peripheral veins in the upper extremities
E. Central venous access via the subclavian or internal
jugular vein - Answers-D. Percutaneous peripheral veins in
the upper extremities
A young man sustains a gunshot wound to the abdomen
and is brought promptly to the ED by prehospital
personnel. His skin is cool and diaphoretic, and he is
confused. His pulse is thready and his femoral pulse is
only weakly palpable. The definitive treatment in managing
this patient is to:
,2|Page
A. Administer O-negative blood
B. Apply external warming devices
C. Control internal hemorrhage operatively
D. Apply a pneumatic antishock garment (PASG)
E. Infuse large volumes of intravenous crystalloid
solutions. - Answers-C. Control internal hemorrhage
operatively
Regarding shock in the child, which of the following is
FALSE?
A. Vital signs are age-related
B. Children have greater physiologic reserves than do
adults
C. Tachycardia is the primary physiologic response to
hypovolemia
D. The absolute volume of blood loss required to produce
shock is the same as in adults
E. An initial fluid bolus for resuscitation should
approximate 20ml/kg Ringers Lactate - Answers-D. The
absolute volume of blood loss required to produce shock
is the same as in adults
,3|Page
A 33-year-old man is struck by a car travelling at 56km/h
(35mph). He has obvious fractures of the left tibia near the
knee, pain in the pelvic area, and severe dyspnea. His
heart rate is 182 beats per minute, and his respiratory rate
is 48 breaths per minute with no breath sounds heard in
the left chest. A tension pneumothorax is relieved by
immediate needle decompression and tube thoracostomy.
Subsequently, his heart rate decreases to 144 beats per
minute, his respirartory rate decreases to 36 breaths per
minute and his blood pressure is 81/53 mmHg. Warmed
Ringers lactate is adminstered intravenously. The next
priority should be to:
A. Perform external fixation of the pelvis
B. Obtain abdominal and pelvic CT-scans
C. Perform arterial embolization of the pelvic vessel
D. Perform diagnostic peritoneal lavage or FAST
E. Perform a urethrogram and cystogram - Answers-D.
Perform diagnostic peritoneal lavage or FAST
A 42-year-old man, injured in a motor vehicle crash,
suffers a closed head injury, multiple palpable left rib
fractures, and bilateral femur fractures. He is intubated
orotracheally without difficulty. Initially, his ventilations are
easily assisted with a bag-mask device. It becomes more
, 4|Page
difficult to ventilate the patient over the next 5 minutes,
and his hemoglobin oxygen saturation level decreases
from 98% to 89%. The most appropriate next step is to:
A. Obtain a chest x-ray
B. Decrease the tidal volume
C. Decrease PEEP
D. Increase the rate of assisted ventilations
E. Perform needle decompression of the left chest. -
Answers-A. Obtain a chest x-ray
A 30-year-old man sustains a severely comminuted, open,
distal right femur fracture in a motorcycle crash. The
wound is actively bleeding. Normal sensation is present
over the lateral aspect of the foot but decreased over the
medial foot and great toe. Normal motion of the foot is
observed. Dorsalis pedis and posterior tibial pulses are
easily palpable on the left, but heard only by Doppler on
the right. Immediate efforts to improve circulation to the
injured extremity should involve:
A. Immediate angiography
B. Tamponade of the wound with a pressure dressing
C. Wound exploration and removal of bony fragments
